Captain Monkey D Luffy, Marine
by quijibo7609
Summary: Being the grandson of a great hero and the son of a great villain would be confusing if Luffy ever really thought about it, but he doesn't. His eyes are on the Grand Line. Because the Grand Line was where his dream would really happen. If he happens to recruit a few good people to help him realize that dream, so much the better!
1. Ensign Luffy

**Captain Monkey D. Luffy, Marine.**

**So this idea got kicked around in my fairly empty skull because the son of my best friend just left for boot camp with the United States Marines and he is a rather significant anime fan. (Well not just left anymore. He's actually pretty far along by now. Work has been hectic and I am just coming up for air it seems like) Anyways, I kind of wanted to write something for him since he tolerates my stories better than most people and if you were going to do a fanfiction involving Marines and anime, well what better fandom could you possibly choose!**

**So readers know, I'm a bit new One Piece having only been following it off and on for about a year. So I might make a few lore mistakes. (I do double check things but I am the dumbs and not the smart as Sir Sic might say!) I should honestly warn everyone I am a fairly casual anime fan even at the best of times. Still here is my take on Luffy following a different path. Feel free to critique and tell me if you enjoy, or call me an idiot. Or whatever. Just thank you for reading.**

* * *

If Ensign Monkey D. Luffy would have been prone to thinking about things, and that wasn't a trait he was known for displaying, he would have understood just how fortunately things were turning out. After all, just two days ago he'd been pretty damned sure he was going to die. Once the old man found out, well that would be it. See, Luffy had missed the ship that was supposed to be taking him to his current duty station, which just so happened to be the Headquarters of the 153rd. A station that mean old bastard used to command. This was bad for any Marine, for any reason, who was serving in the East Blue, but it would have been much worse for Luffy. Because that mean old man was the Great Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp, and Luffy was his grandson.

Yeah Gramps would have been royally pissed, but it got even worse for Luffy. Those orders were the very first orders Ensign Luffy had ever been given on the very first deployment of his career! If Gramps ever found out… well no amount of rubber powers would have saved him from being beaten black and blue, then blue and black, then up and down… you get the idea.

Gramps would have thoroughly kicked Luffy's ass.

Gramps was just kind of that way about these things.

But it was starting to look like Gramps wasn't going to find out. This friendly vessel had fished him out of the sea, given him food to eat, which obviously meant they were really good people, and happily told him they would be passing right by Shells Town on their way Yotsuba Island. Which was perfect! Luffy should be able to report right on time to Captain Morgan, which meant Gramps would never, ever, find out how badly his grandson had messed up. So, basically Luffy wouldn't die before his dream even got rolling.

But Luffy wasn't thinking about these things, because his stomach was grumbling and food was a far more pressing concern than his ultimate goal at the moment. Sure these nice folks had fed them, but he hadn't eaten for hours and hours before getting picked up. At least the Captain of the ship said he'd happily give any brave Marine seconds! Luffy just needed to tell the cook he wanted some! Of course the Captain had undoubtedly meant to add Luffy could have thirds along with those seconds! Which was like fifths, right?

Right!

Now where would the kitchen be…

* * *

Nami was keeping a low profile. The ship had recently rescued some scrawny Marine ensign, and the last thing she needed was for a random Marine to catch sight of the tattoo on her shoulder. Her lip quivered almost imperceptibly at the thought of Arlong. Soon, she was almost there. Arlong whatever else he might be, was at least known for keeping his word.

At least this particular Marine looked harmless enough. Granted he had a few fearsome scars, but he was more than a bit on the scrawny side, had a face that lacked any guile, and wore sandals for some reason. It was strangely hard to take a Marine seriously when he was wearing sandals. Despite the perfectly pressed and fitted Marine cap, this Ensign Luffy character didn't look very much like a Marine at all.

Of course appearances could be deceiving. He might actually be craftier than he looked. After all Nami wasn't remotely what she looked like. She was the infamous Cat-Burglar! Well at least infamous among her pirate victims, and thus the bane of all treasure holds in the East Blue! Especially if those treasure holds were on a pirate ship!

At least she'd never been suspected in person yet. Which meant there wasn't a bounty on her head. Which made things a lot easier. Well if you didn't count the tattoo Arlong had basically branded her with.

Nami really hated pirates, even if technically she was one. She hated them so much.

Speaking of pirate ships, the ship she was currently on looked like it was shaping up to be an amazing pirate lure. Everything about it screamed, "We're stupid and helpless! Please come rob us!" It was perfect. Although Nami did feel a bit bad for the bait. Not a lot, but a bit.

It's not like anyone here had noticed what was happening at Cocoyasi Village. Not like any damned on of them cared. None of them would have even lifted a single finger to save someone like Bellemere. Nami's lip quivered a tiny bit more.

The Marine was throwing her off her game.

Some man who was obviously soft, rich, and complacent was smiling what he obviously believed to be a rakish smile. Nami noticed his wallet was placed in a very pick-able pocket.

He asked her to dance and Nami's smile became radiant even as her eyes grew hard.

* * *

There weren't a lot of happy people on _The Miss Love Duck_. The crew quietly doubted Captain Alvida herself was a very happy person. Which would have made her somewhat sympathetic if she didn't make herself feel better by making damned sure everyone else felt worse. Much worse. And no one was ever made to feel worse than Koby. Which suited the other Alvida Pirates just fine. After all, better him than any of them.

A voice as gnarled as the roots of a rotted oak tree, and far less lovely, shouted, "Koooo-bee! Who is the most beautiful woman on all the seas!"

A soft stammering reply, "W-well ma'am. Th-th-that would be the Captain of our ship. L-Lady Alvida!"

"Ha ha Ha HA _HA_ _**HA**_! Good answer!" There was the heavy thud of a giant spiked club hitting the deck. A giant spike club wielded by an ogre of a woman that was both monstrous in appearance and hideous in personality. Behind her Koby could see the smug faces of his "fellow crew." Their expressions said it all, better him than them.

Koby continued as bravely as he dared, "Th-thank you. Th-that means a lot to me." Well that wasn't very brave was it?

The first mate spoke up, "So we're finally going to see some action then."

Alvida's smile somehow grew more evil and more grotesque, "That's right! See that ship right there! Let's hit it with all you got boys!"

The crew let loose with a series of wild cheers as they readied the canons. Some though, weren't quite loud enough. Koby swallowed hard because Alvida noticed.

* * *

Nami's eyes rolled as the gentleman trying to impress her literally screamed like a wounded child and ran off to hide somewhere the _very_ moment the warning came. Come one, they were only pirates! Nami didn't bother to try and imitate her would be suitor's reaction. Not because she wasn't a decent actress, after all she hadn't been caught yet, but some expressions and emotions were beyond even the most talented thespians to emulate.

Plus she would have looked absurd, and Nami had too much pride for that.

The crowd in the main cabin scattered to go hide somewhere, but they would be gathered back up again when the pirates boarded. The Marine was still a no-show, which was hardly surprising for a Marine these days. Cannons fired. Nami listened carefully and quickly deduced the pirates were aiming for the rigging, no doubt meaning to take the ship as intact as possible, securing any loot and anyone worth kidnapping. This also was completely unsurprising.

Good. The more predictable things were the easier her plans would be. Even if one of those unsurprising facts was proving distractedly disappointing. A Marine that was doubtlessly cowering with the people he should be trying to protect was proving far more galling than Nami thought it should. Probably because Bellemere wouldn't have cowered. She had never been the cowering type. But Marines like Nami's mother were becoming rarer and rarer.

To the point they practically didn't exist anymore.

She must have faded out for a brief moment because unexpectedly soon there was a thunderous crash up on deck. A crash that was followed by the sounds of boarders running all over the top of the ship. Nami forgot all about how shitty Marines were these days and started doing what she did best.

Which was stealing from pirate scum.

She started with her classic step one maneuver, which was obviously to yank off her dress.

* * *

Koby was kicked so hard he flew the entire distance between the ships. It hurt. It hurt a bunch. But Koby understood misery well, and knew with no uncertainty his "Beautiful Captain" was itching to heap more upon him. With reflexes honed by the months of abuse his captured servitude had inflicted upon him, he was up to the task of narrowly dodging Alvida as she tried to crash-land on him. Speed gained since discovering how one speck of dust on a white glove could lead to several days in the infirmary had Koby scrambling out of sight before she could hope to recover. Panting hard he charged below decks, out of sight of almost everyone, down into what turned out to be the ship's galley. There he ran into a slightly surprised looking Marine.

Koby thought this guy was odd looking for a Marine. For one he wore sandals which just seemed weird for some reason. Second he was unbuttoning his shirt, which should have been even weirder but somehow seemed less so… maybe he thought this was the ship's laundry.

Eventually Koby came to his senses. Did this guy somehow not know this ship was under attack? Koby had always wanted to be a Marine, to stand up for the little guy. He thought what Alvida would do if she discovered him here.

With a gulp, Koby took his first real stab at heroism. "You need to hide! If those pirates find you, they're going to kill you!"

The strange Marine blinked at him slowly, then nonchalantly bit into an apple before he continued to unbutton his shirt. He did ask something however, "Aren't you one of the pirates?"

Shame. What Koby felt next was shame, "That doesn't matter. I won't kill you, but they will! And there's a hundred of them?"

Shirt removed, the Marine sat on a bench and started rolling up his pant legs. He was also still chewing on the apple, "Why's that?"

Koby looked at him oddly, "There's a hundred of them so they can capture ships easier! Isn't that obvious?!"

The Marine laughed, and Koby couldn't help but think it was a good laugh. There was no menace in it. Neither was there any cruelty in it. Nothing mocking. No superiority at all. It was just honest laughter, more carefree than anything Koby had heard in a long time. "That isn't what I meant. I meant why aren't you going to try and kill me, since you're a pirate you know."

Koby blinked. The laughter and the reply really didn't fit any of the circumstances surrounding this situation as far as Koby could hope to understand. He was still trying to think of a reply when three of his crewmates barged in.

The smallest, who served as the chef for the crew, sneered at the half-naked Marine. Then he sneered harder at Alvita's favorite whipping boy. It wasn't a pleasant expression. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

The Marine continued rolling up his pant legs like he didn't have a care in the world, his smile didn't even waver. "Marine Ensign Monkey D. Luffy. I was just captured by…" the strange Marine looked confused for a moment and glanced at Koby, "I'm sorry I forgot to ask your name."

Koby blinked. Blinked kind of hard actually. "Koby. My name is Koby"

The Marine nodded, "I was just captured by Koby."

The three Alivida Pirates somehow blinked even harder. Koby could almost hear it.

One of them, who's only non-rotten tooth glinted with the gleam of gold decided to ask, "Koby captured you?" The heinous man with even more heinous breath slowly pointed a hairy mitt at Alvita's least favorite crew member. "That little shit right there. That Koby?"

The Marine whose cap had gone somewhat askew while he had been rolling up his pant legs finally jumped to his feet with a giant smile. He then took off his cap and carefully rolled it up and stuck it in his back pocket. "Yep!"

The three pirates looked at each other and then burst out laughing. "Oh man, you have to be the worst Marine ever!" The biggest of the three violently shoved Koby against the wall where pain briefly overcame him as he slumped to the floor.

Koby's eyes watered and blurred. Painful tears, more at his failure to protect the Marine than from anything physical, caused his vision to swim. Shame filled him because Koby was so damned tired of being helpless. He didn't even have the strength to look up from his lap as several meaty thuds echoed throughout the galley. Thus he was very surprised when a distinct gold tooth landed in his lap.

He looked up, three very unconscious pirates lay at the Marine's feet. There was also several more teeth littering the ground, but that didn't seem important right now. What was important was the thunderous crack of popping knuckles. "Now then Koby," the Marine's voice was much colder and much softer than it had been before when it had just been them. Koby shivered, even as the Marine continued cracking his knuckles, "As your prisoner I demand to speak to your Captain to discuss terms for surrender."

Koby did the only thing he could think to do. He nodded.

* * *

Nami looked every inch the proper pirate, well if you didn't notice how immaculately clean she was. Admittedly, Nami hated being dirty. Which seemed to be less of a giveaway on this ship which was frankly spotless. Nami was as impressed as any pirate ship could hope to impress her... well if one discounted what was in it's treasure hold that is.

That didn't make the Cat-Burglar merciful. Not even remotely.

Pirates tended to be grabby sorts, and in Nami's line of work she had reasons to hang out in large groups of them. Ths Nami had long become exceedingly adept at kicking them in the groin. This particular groin shot landed really well too. The pirate's eyes had almost popped right out of his skull, and that was enough to make Nami smile. After all she hated pirates even more than she hated cowardly Marines. At least with the Marine, Nami could objectively understand how one sole man couldn't hope to stand against an entire pirate crew. It was only logical.

The kinder voice whispered that Bellemere would have at least tried.

The crueler one whispered that Bellemere would have also died for it.

Nami stamped down hard on both voices, stamping down hard on the face the groaning pirate in the process. The scum was too busy holding what was most precious to him to offer any defense, so Nami just continued. Kicking him hard in the head over and over again until he went slack.

Yeah, sometimes Nami's objectivity went out the window sometimes when it came to pirates. There was the unmistakable crashing sound of splintering timbers somewhere below decks on the opposite ship. That sound brought Nami back to her senses. It even made her hesitate. At least someone was putting up a fight. Hell, maybe it was even the Marine.

That was good right?

The thought made Nami waver more than a little, and for a moment it felt like her life was in the balance. Which course would her life take towards some future she wasn't quite able to plot yet.

Then the moment passed. She had too many people depending on her to hope some scrawny Ensign could hold out against an entire pirate crew. If it was even that Marine in the first place. It very well could be someone else. Someone that didn't remind her of her mother.

Yes Nami definitely knew she was lying to herself.

She looked down at the unconscious pirate, and stomped down one more time on his face. She wasn't normally this vicious, but something about that scrawny Marine upset her in a way she wasn't capable of dealing with right now.

She bit her lip and willfully ignored the commotion. The fighting would at least make good cover for her escape. Escape, because, she had a job to do. People whom she could save. She could already see the locked chests that contained the only thing pirates were good for.

She was mostly successful in ignoring all the other distractions.

Mostly.

* * *

Alvida heard the growing commotion coming from below decks. How could she not? It seemed that someone on this ship wasn't complete coward. Her smile grew a little sadistic, absently she started bouncing her beloved club in the palm of her hand. Before long three terrified members of her crew burst through a hatch. "Lady Alvida! It's a monster!"

Her lip twitched. Her club came down. One of the three got hammered down through the hatch like the world's largest and most hapless nail. Alvida screamed her rage, "How dare you!"

One of the pirates, faced between an enraged Alvida and the coming demon from below the decks chose option "A" with abandon and scurried onto the deck as fast as he could. Alvita brought her club down on his spine and he screamed just as he collapsed.

The third desperately waved his hands at his captain, "Not you Lady Alvida! There's a Marine. A truly terrible Marine!"

Alvida paused. Then brought the club down anyways on the last of them. More out of frustration than anything else. Powerful Marine officers were a rarity in the East Blue, most of the capable being syphoned off to deal with the growing Pirate menace on the Grand Line, but they weren't completely unheard of either. Vice Admiral Garp was still known to patrol these waters and he had supposedly captured the one and only Gold D. Roger twenty years ago.

Obviously this wasn't someone as powerful as a Vice Admiral, but it could still be a Commander or even a Captain. Alvida considered. Maybe someone was on leave. Maybe some newcomer was trying to make a name for themselves. Maybe a lot of things actually. Alvida wasn't one for introspection so she decided to find out!

With a snarl she snatched up the last of her three unconscious crew and absently tossed him into the ocean. She then yelled down the hatch. "Hey! Who's down there?"

She did not expect the timid voice of Koby to answer. "Um. M-me L-Lady Alvida. Th-there's a p-prisoner who wants t-t-to speak with you."

Alvida blinked, than got even angrier, "Koby I don't have time for your crap right now. There is a Marine on the loose I have to deal with! Tell that prisoner to shut up and hand over all their valuables! It's not hard you moron!"

There was a long pause, and a soft and very relaxed voice that most certainly didn't belong to Koby murmured something. The voice was strange, mostly for how utterly unconcerned it was. How completely self-assured. Almost like what was happening right now might not even be worth remembering later. Alvida, deep in her heart, felt the slightest clinch of fear.

Finally a few words she could hear wafted up to her ears.

"That lady up there. Is she the Captain, Koby?"

Koby's voice stammered out a muffled affirmation. Alvida fought the urge to fearfully lick her lips.

"The really loud and fat lady, right?"

Alvida felt her eyes start twitching. The faint flicker of fear vanished in a torrent of rage.

* * *

Koby knew his eyes were as big as saucers. The Marine had just said "loud and fat" within earshot of Lady Alvida. What happened next came as no surprise to the cabin boy. He was already ducking and covering before even Alvida herself could react. The expected monstrous crash followed as Alvida brought her full fury to bare as she smashed down into the room. The entire ship shook. Koby thought perhaps the entire East Blue shook at the furious landing.

Alvida's eyes were shadowed. Her voice was as dry and twisted as death. "Koby. Who's the most beautiful woman on all the seas."

Koby quaked and quivered. Several swords stabbed through the walls as Alvida's crew started to force their way into the room. Perhaps it could be forgiven that Koby wavered. "Uh. Um. I-I know this."

Alvida brought her heavy club down. Koby closed his eyes. There was a crunch of impact. Koby opened his eyes. The club was lodged deeply in a wall fairly far away. It took Koby a moment to understand The Marine had somehow ripped the club right out of the iron grip of Lady Alvida, a feat of no great accomplishment given the Marine's casual demeanor. His smile had changed though. It was no longer the open one he had shown in the galley or when walking through the ship. There was something false about it now. Not menacing per se, but coolly professional. Something like a shopkeeper might display with a singularly unpleasant customer.

His voice was absolutely calm. "Hello. I am Ensign Monkey D. Luffy and I am willing to accept your unconditional surrender. Throw down your weapons, come along quietly, and I promise I'll tell the authorities in Shells Town that you all cooperated fully." Luffy's smile suddenly became much more genuine. "Trust me it will be way easier on you than if you make me beat everybody up!"

* * *

Luffy wanted to laugh. This was his first real encounter with pirates as a Marine, and it was going so good too! He was even protecting the nice people who fed him! It was almost perfect! The only somewhat disappointing problem being that these guys were all super weak. Oh well, at least it was still a chance to practice how to be a professional-type Marine like Gramps would want. Still, he felt kinda bad about this. It just kind of felt mean to keep knocking these guys out after a while. Still he reminded himself that he was a Marine and they were pirates and this was all part of the job. Even if their Captain was just some angry fat lady with a club. Which was really disappointing, especially since he couldn't help but compare her to Straw Hat Shanks. Let's face it, she made for a frankly silly comparison when stacked up against the famous Captain of the Straw Hat's!

Luffy kind of wondered what Shanks was up to these days. He was going to feel kinda bad when he arrested him.

The Fat Lady snarled, and Luffy tried no to laugh. Then saw something ugly dawned in her face. Well uglier. She looked like a slightly too-hairy rhinoceros with freckles already. "Shells Town huh. So you work for 'Axe-Hand' do you?"

Luffy shrugged. Technically he worked for the Marines and wouldn't actually serve under Captain Morgan until he reported for duty, but she might not know that and explaining it would probably be hard. "Yep! I'm assigned to the 153rd Division at Shells Town!" Then because it seemed polite, "Have you ever been there?"

Fat Lady's smile somehow got even uglier than uglier. Seriously! It was like the grossest magic trick ever! "Yeah I've been there."

Luffy kind of looked away. She was starting to freak him out a bit, but still he kept up his proper professional manner just like Gramps would want. "Cool. Cool. Then you'll know your way around when we get there." That might actually be kind of useful. Too bad she was getting freakier and freakier looking. Seriously it was like mega-creepy.

Fat Lady sighed and thankfully looked away. Luffy was frankly relieved when she did. "Alright then. How much?"

_Uh… what? _Luffy was confused. He wasn't sure what she was talking about. "How much what?"

Fat Lady looked at him. For some reason, even though she was the pirate, she looked at him like he was complete filth. "You work for Axe-Hand right?"

Luffy blinked stupidly, it was a habit he had that really annoyed Gramps sometimes but was proving hard to break.

"Yeah…"

She looked at him harshly, "Are you stupid?"

Luffy shrugged, "Gramps sometimes says so. Especially after I make him mad." Fat Lady slapped her forehead with her hand for some reason. Like really hard to. It made a big red mark on her sweaty brow. Why would she do that?

Then she then started talking slowly. And slowly Luffy got angry. Because what she said was uglier than anything else he'd seen all day.

"How. Much. Money. Does. Axe-Hand. want. For you **To** **GO AWAY**?"

There was only one response to that. "Gummm-GUMMM…."

* * *

Koby blinked. One moment Alvida had been standing there, trying to bribe the Marine… whose name was Luffy it seemed… which was terribly disappointing but not really unexpected. That the Marine was getting bribed, not that he was named Luffy. Koby honestly didn't have a strong opinion either way on the name of Luffy.

Koby's brain was vapor-locked because this was when things got weirder. The Mar-Luffy's arms started getting really long. Really, really long. So long they stretched down the main hall, past Alvita's crew behind him, and far into the gloom beyond. Alvida was staring in shock just like the rest of them.

"… **BAZOOKA!"**

Then Alvida just completely disappeared. One moment she was there, then she was gone. Koby's jaw might of hit the floor. Definitely a few of the other Alvida Pirates had to stoop to pick their own up off the ground.

Luffy was frankly snarling as he rounded on the shocked pirate crew that had him surrounded. "Weapons! Down! Now!"

The sound of falling swords was frankly deafening. It wasn't enough. Ensign Luffy was still angry. "Koby! Pick those up! Now!"

Koby hopped right to attention and rushed to pick up the swords as fast as he was able. By the time he got to sword twenty he was sweating. At least by that time Ensign Luffy seemed to be calming down, but he was still glaring balefully at any pirate that dared opened his mouth. Which looked to be really unfortunate for one of them since he was obviously doing the pee-pee dance. Koby though, even though he was groaning under the weight stooped for sword twenty-two, only to go down in a clatter

The room was completely silent for a moment. Tension filled the air because what would the dangerous Marine do?

Then ensign Luffy laughed. Again Koby was struck by how happy that laughter was. All tension evaporated in the wake of that kind of laughter. Koby even felt himself smile as he started re-gathering up the swords. Luffy smiled big to everyone else in the room, "Okay you, Mr. Pee-pee guy. Go tell this ship's crew that it's safe to come out, then you can use the bathroom. Just don't try to escape so I don't have to kick your ass and we're good. Okay?"

The pirate was almost comically grateful as he ran straight down the halls. Koby watched him go, and felt his own Luffy style laugh build in his chest. Then the shame hit, and Koby felt the laughter die before it had ever begun. He didn't deserve to be able to laugh like that.

Luffy wasn't unsympathetic. "Hey, I'm sorry for yelling, but that fat lady made me really mad." Koby looked at him, and Luffy smiled big. "You're pretty weak aren't you?"

Koby didn't have the heart to look into that smiling face. Koby couldn't quite bear to look up as he slowly started putting all the swords in one pile, since he obviously was too pathetic to even carry them. Just before he was done though, he breathed deep and gathered enough courage to look Luffy in the eye. Koby knew he never be able to move towards his dream if he couldn't manage even that much.

"Yeah I'm weak. And a coward. And just… just pathetic I guess."

Luffy cocked his head to the side, "Why's that?"

Koby looked at the shirtless, sandal wearing Marine, and for the first time Luffy kind of looked cool. Like someone that was standing where Koby really wanted to stand and deserved to do so. Koby smiled a little wistfully, finished gathering the last sword, then sat down on the whole pile.

"I don't know Luffy. I was just a kid who wanted go fishing one day and got kidnapped by pirates so their fat hag of a Captain had someone to swat around."

Luffy crouched next to him. "That sounds really lame."

Koby smiled sadly, "Maybe because it was really lame. Probably because I am really lame."

Luffy nodded, "I'll admit you're pretty lame, but I've met lamer. Take that fat angry lady who tried to bribe me. Now that's what I call, 'Really lame!'" Koby looked at Luffy in surprise. Luffy smiled big, "I appreciate your offer to try and save me. That was pretty cool. Must have been scary since you're like all pathetic and stuff."

Koby laughed. What else could he do? "Am I going to prison now?" Koby was strangely calm about the prospect.

Luffy considered, then shrugged. "I doubt it. You said they kidnapped you right? You'll probably just get let off with a warning to not be so wimpy anymore or something. That's about it."

Koby nodded and decided to confide something, "You know I had a dream." He looked up at Luffy who was obviously now distracted by something. "Is something wrong?"

Luffy shook his head. "Not really. I just want to pick my nose, but it's against regulations."

Koby laughed, and Luffy laughed with him. That was also something Koby hadn't heard in a long time. Someone willing to laugh at themselves. Hell a few of the other pirates couldn't help but chuckle right along with Ensign Luffy. Koby shook his head and continued to tell Luffy his dream, "My dream is to become The Marine Fleet Admiral and spend my days catching bad guys!"

Luffy looked at him oddly, "Well that sure ain't gunna happen."

For some reason Luffy saying that was pretty crushing, "Wh-Why?"

Luffy laughed, "Cause I'm gunna be the Fleet Admiral, catch all the Yonkos, and end the Great Pirate Age myself. That's why. Face it, there's just not going to be a lot left for you to do after that."

The sound of nearly a hundred pirates slapping their foreheads simultaneously was almost deafening. Luffy looked at them, "What?"

* * *

Nami pulled her spyglass out, she was well on her way, but she could just make out the pirate ship striking its colors. Somehow the pirates had lost. Nami kind of felt like crying. Not because she had hoped the pirates would win, but because she had just lost out on something special. That Marine was the real thing after all. No one else on that ship could have possibly posed any real threat against a pirate ship of that size.

Nami had missed her chance to help out someone like Bellemere.

That hurt a surprising amount. Somehow the large sacks of money just didn't seem so impressive anymore.

And for some reason her shoulder was itching.

* * *

**Weird but easily the most OoC thing I can think of Luffy doing in the entire show is not wearing the Straw Hat. Him dropping that hat on Nami's head was one of the most touching things I've yet seen from the show, it really was a simple and elegant way to tell Nami that he's got this. It also made you want to jump up and shout for Luffy to go and kick Arlong's ass! This story might be dead on arrival simply on the strength Straw Hatless Luffy alone.**

**Oh well, it's more for myself and my friends than anyone else anyways.**

**So in case you curious on where I **_**actually**_** am in the show, and no I have never read the manga though I have heard it **_**is**_** paced better, Luffy just knelt before Hancock to thank her for reversing her Love-Love beam and saving his new friends on Amazon Lily.**

**So yeah, pretty far behind and probably some significant reveals I am missing. I do watch a few episodes a week, but I work a lot and honestly don't have a lot of time to delve into every little nuance inside the show. And the show as a lot of nuance. If I miss something important to a character please feel free to tell me where and how I'm a dumbass, just try not to spoil things for me as it's kind of a jerk move since I admitted I am waaay behind in the show. (Probably a decade behind most of you)**

**Anyways, I kind of wanted to do Luffy on an entirely different path because A) He's more interesting than Koby who was my second choice and B) it seemed that as a child Luffy really could have come down on either side. He'd still be a good man either way (I guess that's a mild spoiler in the direction the story is taking but please don't retaliate), but if the Bandits didn't come down or Garp had been there more, well Luffy might have developed a different dream.**

**Granted a dream in the same vein and equally as difficult because Luffy is Luffy. We should always thank Oda for that gift.**

**Also my friend's kid is going to be a Marine!**

**Be well and safe!**


	2. Forces of Nature

Somewhere a transponder snail sounded.

_Burda-burda-burda… Burda-burda-burda… burda-bur-CAH-lick._

A voice rumbled. "Hmm. Yes this is him speaking."

The rumbling voice rumbled in such a way which enabled someone to easily mistake it for the sound of heavy seas smashing against a rocky seashore… and thoroughly, if almost absently, pummeling those rocks into submission. If one heard this voice enough, one could easily see that shore wishing some kind soul would just plant a white flag where all could see. Maybe then the seas would understand the coast was more than willing to surrender.

It was just that kind of voice, and it rumbled in just that kind of way.

"Ah yes. You must be with the civilian transport that's dropping my grandson off at Shells Town. Thank you for checking in. I know that boy can be a handful. He didn't keep you waiting did he? If he did, tell me now so I know to straighten him out when I see him in a few weeks." There was a pause.

A very, heavy pause.

The kind of pause where the entire world stops whatever its doing to look in a specific direction.

It was just that kind of pause.

Because the entire world understood that surrender flag or no surrender flag.

There was no mercy to be found.

"_**HE WHAT!?"**_

The waves crashed down.

* * *

/\

* * *

Luffy briefly looked up at the small island the two ships were moored at. The East Blue was getting a bit choppy all of a sudden. To the point where a large boulder mysteriously fell into the sea... like it was giving itself up without a fight. That didn't seem to make the East Blue very happy though, since it seemed to be just warming up.

Yet, there wasn't any clouds or wind though. Weird.

Luffy shivered, even though he had already put his uniform back on.

Not because of the boulder or the strangely disturbed seas. That didn't really seem to be important. What was important right now was this really unconscious pirate laying on the deck. Someone really unconscious meant some other person really hadn't liked the guy. His face was a complete mess, but that wasn't the worst part. The doctor said what happened below the belt was every bit as bad. Looking at the pirate's completely crushed nose, to the point where it was basically pulped, well how could Luffy look at that and not shiver?

Someone _really_ hadn't liked this guy. Luffy shivered again and decided to ask Koby something.

"You sure it wasn't that loud lady? She was kinda on the cranky side."

Koby shook his head. "I doubt it. Oh she would happily do something like this, especially if he said words like 'fat' or 'ugly' where Alvida could hear him, but she would have had someone else guard this room if she did. I mean the ship's treasure is… I mean was… in here."

Luffy nodded. The captain was doing a headcount. The nice captain. The one that fed him, not that loud captain lady he got mad at and then accidently launched somewhere where no one could find her. Gramps was going to be pissed he let his very first Pirate Captain escape.

Gramps was just that way about certain things.

At least Gramps wouldn't find out about that one time he overslept because he ate too much. The time he borrowed a row boat and desperately rowed out to sea to try and catch the ship he missed. Only to get lost, and then get hungry. Gramps wouldn't find out because these nice people came along and rescued him. Then they fed him! That was really cool. Which made rescuing them from the fat lady really, really cool. Like he was paying them back, even though he would have rescued them no matter what. He was a Marine after all. Well if he knew they needed to be rescued that was. If he had been on the other ship he might not have found out in time. Which would have sucked because these people were really nice…

Where was he again? Luffy looked down. The crushed nose… Luffy couldn't look away even if it only led his brain to really bad places.

Someone _really, really _hadn't liked this guy.

Luffy shivered again.

The nice captain came up on deck walked over to Luffy. He was frowning for some reason. There was also some guy wearing fancy clothes walking just behind him. "We did a head count and every one of the passengers and crew are accounted for." Before Luffy or Koby could ask, the nice Captain continued, "Everyone seems to be more or less okay. There are a few light injuries, mostly because the passengers panicked than due to anything the pirates actually did to anyone."

Luffy nodded thoughtfully. Nodding thoughtfully was a bluff of course, because Luffy wasn't really paying attention. Luffy was really thinking about this poor pirate, his stolen treasure, and crushed family jewels. Who would do this, and how could they hope to find them?

They needed to be brought to justice!

Luffy wasn't completely oblivious to those around him though. He was actually very aware that people were catching on to him when he was bluffing. Especially Koby. Koby catching on is probably why he decided to speak next, "That doesn't make much sense. I'm sure Alvida didn't do this and no one else is missing. Besides, if no one is missing, where did that lifeboat and all the treasure go?"

The Captain nodded, "We think we have an idea on just what happened."

Luffy finally caught up to the conversation, "You know who did this?! Who?! How?!"

The Captain blinked stupidly at Luffy. Luffy could sympathize. The Captain took a moment to answer, "The gentleman behind me has noticed someone that seems to be missing."

Koby, who was proving super useful, took over the conversation, "Do you know why that person didn't come up missing during your head count?"

Luffy nodded, that was a good point. Fancy clothes guy spoke next, "There was this girl on our ship. We were dancing. It was very sweet how she quickly fell to my charms. Just as we were about to kiss, we were warned pirates were attacking the ship. I bravely tried to calm her down, but she was panicking beyond what I could hope to console. Somehow we got separated when the pirates invaded the ship-"

Luffy broke in because was concerned, "Is she okay?" Koby smacked his own forehead. People seemed to do that a lot around here. Luffy guessed that maybe it was a cultural thing.

"Luffy let him finish!" Koby snapped. Luffy opened his mouth only for Koby to glare at him, so Luffy nodded thoughtfully instead. The bluff didn't work very well.

Fancy guy started talking again, although he seemed confused on how to exactly restart his story. "Anyways…," Fancy Guy seemed to have a faulty memory, which meant he probably wasn't very smart. "When things calmed down, I was unable to find her. No one else seems to remember her. She might have been a stowaway."

Nice Captain nodded in agreement. Then he told Luffy, "She was almost assuredly a stowaway. She probably was working for the pirates, then escaped in the confusion before anyone could expose her. Must have decided to take their treasure to boot."

Luffy looked at Koby for confirmation, but Koby only looked confused. "Alvida didn't have anyone on your ship. The _Miss Love Duck_ has been hiding behind this island for days. We were preparing to ambush anyone heading to Yotsuba Island from the west."

The nice Captain glared at Koby, and Luffy decided to firmly remind him of something important, "He was kidnapped. He didn't have a choice."

The comment caused the Captain to blink at Luffy, then sigh. "I understand." He looked at Koby and offered a small apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, it's just the more I think of what would have happened if the young Ensign wasn't here, the angrier I get." The Captain then started to ask something, "If she wasn't with these pirates who was she with?"

Obviously Luffy didn't know, but Luffy did notice an expression change in Koby. Koby must have thought of something! So Luffy decided to ask him about it, "You have an idea, don't you?"

Koby took a moment, but then he nodded slowly. "There is a rumor of a Cat-Burglar who steals from pirates. She's hit several crews in the last couple of years, and supposedly stolen more than fifty million berries worth of treasure. No one knows exactly what she looks like though. For some reason, no one can describe her beyond being really pretty."

All eyes turned to Fancy Guy. Luffy asked, "Was the girl you were about to kiss pretty?"

The man puffed up. "Absolutely!"

Luffy laughed, "Great! So you can describe her! What color hair does she have?"

Fancy guy frowned, "Um. Brown I think?"

Koby frowned, "Well how long was her hair then?"

"Umm."

Nice Captain asked, "What color were her eyes?"

Fancy guy was obviously drawing a blank.

Luffy asked, "How old do you think she was?"

Captain, "How tall?"

Fancy guy was starting to look more and more embarrassed.

Koby, now frustrated, demanded, "Well what exactly do you remember about her?" Fancy guy lit up. Koby blushed when the guy started to describe exactly what it was that he remembered, and in great detail. The Captain groaned. Luffy and many of the pirates listened intently.

Luffy suddenly had an idea, "We should get an artist for this description! Just so people know what to look for."

Koby, the Captain, several pirates, most of the crew, and basically everybody else that was in earshot smacked themselves in the forehead. Luffy really wanted to know why people kept doing that.

At least several amatuer artists quickly volunteered.

* * *

The _Miss Love Duck_ was officially seized by Luffy under specific orders to be formally impounded once it reached Shells Town. Alvida herself was officially listed as escaped, which seemed to greatly embarrass Luffy more than concern him. Still the ensign was generous in offering up the bounties of all the remaining pirates to the captain of the stricken ship, _The Star of Yatsuba_. That was nearly a million berries in total, which would go a fair ways to helping Captain, whose name Koby learned was named Perry Hazzard, repair his ship. Captain Hazzard had been so happy he shook Luffy's hand until the whole of Luffy's body was vibrating so hard his hat fell off.

Something that made Luffy laugh, and Koby laughed along with him. Then they were officially back underway towards Shells town.

The crew of the _Star_ was currently using the largely untouched pirate ship to tow their own damaged vessel to port. Meanwhile, Captain Hazzard's original ship was converted into something of a makeshift prison ship, a prison ship with rather spacious accommodations. This greatly annoyed some of the wealthier passengers. The pirate ship, while being respectably clean didn't remotely have the accommodations of the luxury passenger vessel. Still, Luffy and the Captain both insisted that leaving the pirates on their own mostly intact ship was stupid, and shoving those pirates into a bilge for the trip was inhumane. That ended the arguments if not the actual grumblings.

That was nearly three days ago and Luffy was starting to get antsy. Luffy admitted to Koby that if he didn't get to Shells Town in the next twenty-four hours he'd be considered AWOL. Koby was guessing that was bad from the way Luffy paced the deck every time the wind died down even the slightest amount. Koby knew the problem was _The Star of Yatsuba._ The _Star's_ rigging had been torn apart during attack, losing half its main mast to boot. To make matters worse, the passenger vessel took several shots near its water-line, flooding its bilge. Some emergency repairs had been fitted by the _Star's_ crew, and the pirates were consistently pressed into service bailing water, but the _Star _was going to need extensive repairs at Shells town and probably a full refit at a major dockyard.

Which meant right now, _The Star_ was slow. Incredibly slow. It was like forcing _The Miss Love Duck_ to sail with its anchors down.

Maybe, under better circumstances, Luffy could have sailed one of the small lifeboats to Shells Town and made it to the base on time. Thing was, if Luffy left, then everyone knew the pirates would take advantage of the situation. The Captain, who once served in the Marines as a Chief Petty Officer, stated he was fully prepared to explain to Captain Morgan why Luffy was delayed in arriving to his station, but Luffy had just blinked and muttered something about mean old men being a bigger concern.

Koby felt bad for Luffy. He honestly did. A feeling not made better by how much fun he was currently having. Because Koby, for the first time in years, was free! The whole world was thrown open to him. He now finally felt like a sailor. Sure his dream seemed impossibly distant, especially given the intimidating benchmark that was Ensign Monkey D. Luffy, but the course was now clear. Who cares if that dream felt far over the horizon because now it at least felt real. Koby was someone who lost his path in life, and while stumbling blindly around, bumped into a person that was happy to show him exactly where it was... and how to walk it. Koby knew, come what may, he would never cease being grateful to Luffy for this. Koby wished Luffy could appreciate just how he felt, but he also understood Luffy was too wrapped up in his own concerns to share in his good mood.

Koby and Captain Hazzard were conversing. The two were now standing in Alvida's old quarters, which was spacious enough to be taken over by the entirety of the _Star's_ crew. Koby was honestly touched when Captain Hazzard allowed him to hang his hammock with the rest of them. Koby thought all those holes in her walls from the hanging beds would have enraged Alvida something fierce, a fact that brought Koby no small amount of spiteful joy.

Most of the expensive furniture had been stowed on the _Star_ for the time being, but a few things like the large ornate table were repurposed to hold the sea charts that helped plot their course to Shells Town. Koby and the Captain were checking those carts against their latest readings. The numbers weren't good for Luffy. Progress was far too slow. It might take as long as an entire day at this rate to just sight land. Thus, Luffy wasn't going to make it on time. Koby nodded once politely to Captain Hazzard and went to tell Luffy the situation.

Luffy was sitting on the bow, staring where the port would come into view, like sheer force of will would somehow get him there on time.

He still heard Koby approach. "It's not good is it?" Luffy said without turning around.

Koby moved to stand next to the ensign. "We won't sight the shore until tomorrow morning, which means we'll miss the tides. We might have to stay out to sea until the following evening." Luffy sighed, took off his hat and scratched his head vigorously in frustration. Koby knew of Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan by reputation, but still tried to offer some solace, "I'm sure it won't be that bad. You caught a pirate ship after all. Captain Morgan is going to be impressed by that at least."

Luffy shook his head, "It's not that. I mean sure, I expect to peel potatoes for a few weeks for coming in late and on the wrong ship, but that won't be so bad. What's bad is Captain Morgan will report me missing the moment I don't arrive with the other ship. That will go straight to the Vice-Admiral Garp, who isn't going to like it one bit."

Koby was confused, "Why would Vice-Admiral Garp care about one Marine being late?"

Luffy looked at him, "Because he's my Gramps." Luffy laughed in a sad way, "Oh man is he going to be mad too." Then Luffy looked back to the horizon with a sad smile. "He might even kill me."

Koby's jaw hit the floor. "The Great Hero of the Marines is your grandfather?! No wonder you're so strong!"

Luffy chuckled softly and nodded, "It gets worse. When I was a kid I was really into pirates. A famous Pirate Captain even stayed in the little village I lived at for awhile. He was really nice and told the best stories. So were his crew. Even more than Gramps, he's the reason I want to see the Grand Line." Luffy sighed, "Gramps has never quite forgiven me for being such good friends with him."

Koby had just picked up his jaw, but abruptly dropped it again, "You wanted to be a pirate?!"

Luffy laughed, and for once it felt a little forced. "I was a kid. I didn't know any better. Just like that time when I ate the Gomu-Gomu fruit 'cause I thought it looked tasty. Boy was I wrong! It's still the worst thing I think I've ever tasted."

Koby frowned, "What's a Gomu-Gomu fruit?"

Luffy looked at Koby strangely and then laughed something much closer to his normal carefree manner. "It's a Devil Fruit. It's what made me a rubber man!" He then grabbed his face, no more like his entire head, and stretched it absurdly wide for a moment, before releasing it. Luffy's head wobbled briefly and kind of disturbingly for a moment before he continued. "That's why I'm all stretchy, and also why I sink like a stone if I fall into the water. What did you think? Marine training teaches you to stretch your arms like really far?" Luffy then stretched out those arms like he was telling the biggest, 'I once caught a fish...' story ever told.

Koby flushed, "I just didn't know Devil Fruits were a real thing, okay!"

Luffy smiled as he pulled his arms back to his side, then he turned looked back over to the horizon towards the still too distant Shells Town. "Straw Hat Shanks wasn't even mad when I ate it. Maybe annoyed, but still more concerned than anything else. He really was a good friend. He probably still is. I miss him sometimes."

Koby blinked, dropped his jaw a third time, and just left it on the ground for the foreseeable future. Straw Hat Shanks! Luffy knows Straw Hat Shanks! Koby's brain was absolutely spinning! Dumbfounded, Koby asked the only question that occurred, "If you wanted to be a pirate and liked Shanks so much, why didn't you join the Strawhat crew? They're like some of the most famous pirates ever!"

Luffy laughed, and it was finally the honest laughter Koby was used to hearing from him. "Oh I wanted to! Believe me. I must have asked and even begged a hundred times while Shanks lived on the island. Each time he told me, 'No,' with a laugh and hair ruffle that really pissed me off. Still, by the time he left, I wanted to become a great pirate myself. Even if it was just to prove him wrong. It was a silly dream I guess."

Koby waited patiently for Luffy to answer the obvious and unasked question. Still, Luffy was silent for several minutes before he decided to do so. "I think I should tell you why I decided to become a Marine. No it's not because Gramps is a famous hero of the Marines. It's because Gramps is my personal hero, even if he's one mean old bastard." Luffy laughed again at some long standing joke, and now Koby felt okay to chuckle along with him. Still Luffy's voice suddenly cooled when he continued. "Once Shanks left, some mountain bandits decided to punish Foosha Village for having befriended his crew. Foosha Village is where I grew up you see." Luffy's voice grew harder, "The bandits hurt people. They enjoyed hurting people. When they found out I couldn't swim, they took turns throwing me deeper and deeper into the ocean. They were taking bets on who would successfully drown me while they did so. I could hear them doing it. I could hear them make their jokes as I struggled up onto the beach. Again and again. For over an hour. Each time I heard the their laughter at the groans of the loser." Luffy closed his eyes as his voice grew impossibly harder, "I would have died, maybe I should have died. I didn't because help was already coming." Luffy paused again then continued, "There is a wonderful woman named Makino who basically raised me. She owned a little bar. The Bandits stole all her food and booze and then burned it down. Once they were drunk, they intended to do worse. They were stopped." Luffy paused, "That was when Gramps showed up."

Koby had been holding his breath, and slowly let it out when Luffy paused, but he did not interrupt. Luffy continued, "Gramps was trying to track down Shanks you see. He might have even caught up with him if he kept going, but his lookout saw the flames as Makino's bar went up." Luffy's eyes were far away, "Gramps is kind of a force of nature when he decides to be. He is strong. And I mean scary strong. And when he's angry he doesn't hold back. He landed on the beach five minutes in front of his crew. There the bandit leader was holding me, getting ready to toss me as far as he could over a bet of just a hundred berries. That was what my life was worth to them you see. Barely enough for a glass of beer at Makino's, which was well on its way to becoming nothing but ashes. The bet was so small because everyone knew he was probably going to win you see. At that moment I was obviously exhausted and no one was going to bet more on me dragging myself back to shore." Luffy paused, and Koby guessed it was to control something inside himself more than for any dramatic effect. "I remember crying. Not because I was afraid, but because I was so helpless. I hated that feeling but bandit seemed so impossibly large and powerful. What could I do? Then Gramps turned the tables. This bandit leader who so callously and easily killed, took one look at Gramps and fainted where he stood. His friends who so happily followed his orders, just left him where he fell as they fled."

Luffy's face went dark. He clenched a fist. Knuckles popped impossibly loud. The Ensign's eyes were cast in shadow. Koby held his breath. "Weak willed cowards the entire lot of them." The statement hit Koby like a blow, and nearly knocked him down. Eventually the moment passed. Luffy's voice was still grim, but the moment of power and terror had gone. "Not that any bandit was able to get away. Old Gramps wasn't letting even a single one of them escape. Marines poured in from all directions, and cut them off before they were able to get outside the village's borders. Once they were all rounded up and caught, Gramps dragged that leader out into the ocean. The cold water that nearly killed me woke that bastard up in an instant. There was a small Sea King that lived by the village. One we called 'The Lord of the Coast.' Gramps held that bandit out, offering up the helpless coward to the Sea King like a snack. Held that weakling, because that sniveling coward was weak, out one armed like he was no more than a worm on a hook. Maybe because he _was_ no more than a worm on a hook. While Gramps did that, the bandit begged, he bribed, he pleaded, he bargained, but mostly he cried. Gramps was completely unmoved. He just stared at the coward on the end of his arm like he was something filthy that needed to be scrubbed away. When the Lord of the Coast charged, the bandit screamed. Gramps, without even looking, punched the Sea King hard enough to explode its head. Sea King brains rained down as far as the beach. Gramps then dragged the bandit back onto the beach where that coward lay on his side and wept. Gramps looked like he might spit on him, but decided to just punch him in the head instead. No that didn't kill him, but he was unconscious for more than three days."

Koby looked closely at Luffy, half expecting him to be weeping, but he wasn't. He was smiling in a distant way, and no the smile wasn't grim even if Luffy's voice still kinda was. Even though Koby already knew the answer he still asked the question, "Why didn't he just feed that guy to the Sea King?"

Luffy looked directly at Koby and smiled kindly. "Because he's a Marine."

* * *

**For the record, I don't think Luffy is stupid. Granted he is fairly naïve, but I think of him as someone who has an insane amount of energy and (especially at the beginning) very little focus. He's not stupid though. Not remotely. He can actually be pretty wise when he's calm, when it's important, or when he's focused.**

**I honestly think Luffy makes a lot of willful and thought out decisions throughout the series. I think punching the celestial dragon was one such willful decision, as was beating down Usopp at Water 7, as was his naked challenge to the World's Government at Ennies Lobby, as are most of his decisions that **_**ever**_** affect the crew. You can even see his crew nod and accept these decisions in almost all these cases as well, meaning they trust him to make them. I personally believe you can be grateful and even love someone that's an idiot, but you would never be able to trust them to make a decision for you.**

**The Straw hats trust their Captain.**

**So do the fans of One Piece.**

**I just thought I'd address it now, in case people started to get irritated by how I write him. It's honestly hard for me though, because he is a major spazz until he gets some good friends to ground him. Then he's just enthusiastic about everything and I mean everything...**

**Okay he's always a bit spastic.**

**As to where I am, Hancock is fawning over Luffy and Luffy is hiding beneath her clothes. Marine statues are starting to become prevalent. Is it weird Zoro and Ghost Girl (sorry I forgot her name) is a much more interesting situation to me then Hancock and Luffy? Not as a shipping thing, but because neither of those characters are what I call people-persons.**


	3. Bad Things (Part 1)

_Vice-Admiral Garp stumped his way to where his grandson lay huddled and shivering on the beach. The boy was obviously shaken after his ordeal. _

_Garp loomed over his grandson, like the towering Marine figure he was._

_"So you know Makino is going to be okay. Her bar's gone, but we got here before they did anything truly terrible." There was a pause, "You're weak boy."_

_To seven year old Luffy, Gramps sounded strange. Almost tired. Eventually, Luffy shrugged. Maybe Gramps was disappointed in him. Hard to blame Gramps for that. After all, Luffy hadn't even managed to save himself._

_Luffy sighed and responded with the honest truth. What else could he do? "I know I'm weak. It's probably why Shanks left me here when he sailed off."_

_Luffy pretty much expected a punch to the head for admitting he tried to join a pirate crew. Something heavy and warm settled on his shoulders instead. Luffy looked down. He was somewhat in awe when he realized he was draped in his Grandfather's own Admiral's Coat._

"_For right now," Gramp's voice rumbled in its unusually exhausted tone, "I'm going to forget you wanted to piss your life away by throwing your lot in with pirates. Instead I'm going to talk to you like a man. You going fishing, you hanging out in Makino's, you listening to the tall tales of pirates, all of it. It needs to stop. It's probably unfair, but I need you to understand something now, boy. What happened here, happens all over the world."_

_Luffy looked at his grandfather in surprise. Gramps looked down on his grandson. Then Vice-Admiral Garp, celebrated hero of the Marines, stated his case to his grandson. He might have even pleaded his case. "Luffy, I know you can become strong. Hell, I basically need you to do so. Especially after what happened with your… with someone else." Gramps had the slightest tremble in his voice, "Luffy, I need people like you to help me stop these kind of things. These kind of things which keep happening to people like Makino."_

_Luffy looked at his Gramps in awe. Still, there was something Luffy felt needed to be said. _

_"I'm seven."_

_Gramps looked at him sternly, "And I'm old. Got any more excuses?"_

_Luffy thought about it for a moment. It was a big decision, and even a seven-year-old knew this moment deserved to be thought over carefully. Once that was fully accomplished, Luffy laughed. "Nope that's the last one! Make me strong!"_

_Gramps laughed as well, and as rough as that laughter was, Luffy basked in it. Gramps even dragged his grandson into hug. "Tomorrow boy. Let's start tomorrow. Today… well for today let's just sit on the beach for a little while longer."_

* * *

Luffy smiled at Koby as he thought about Gramps.

"There! That's perfect!" Luffy looked over at the Fancy Guy who had been hard at work with _The Star's_ first officer. That officer just so happened to be an amateur cardiographer…? Char-togetherer…? The officer was some kind of map-drawer-type person.

Luffy walked over to see. So did a surprising portion of the male crew members. For some reason the female crew seemed mostly uninterested, but there was still a couple of exceptions. Koby was absolutely red-faced, but looked carefully just the same.

Luffy looked at the drawing curiously, "So you're sure this is accurate?"

Fancy Guy frowned. He then closed his eyes, stood straight and tall, and after a moment held both hands forward at roughly chest level. A moment or two passed, he even flexed his fingers experimentally a few times, before nodding slowly. With a smile he said, "The drawing is perfect. Shape, separation, lift, and buoyancy are all absolutely correct. This will help people spot her for sure."

Luffy nodded, "Well okay then. Let's get some copier-snails going so we can hand them out as soon as we reach Shells Town. With any luck, she had to stop there and we can catch her before she leaves!"

One of the crew asked something Luffy really should have thought of honestly, "Do you mind if we kept a few of them? We can post them around the ship so she can't ever sneak back onboard."

Luffy thought that was a good idea so smiled big, "Go ahead. Make some extra copies for any other sailors we come across as well!"

A fairly surprising cheer went up at the good idea. Luffy was rather pleased. Then an even better surprise happened.

"LAND-HO!"

Luffy snapped his head around right away, almost dropping the very important drawing, and rushed to the bow so he could peer at the horizon. "Where?! Where?! I don't see any land!" He was almost screaming.

Koby quickly ran up behind him and smiled, "The lookout in the crow's nest made the call Luffy." Luffy blinked at Koby, and Koby pointed up the mast. "He's high up and has a spyglass. You won't see land come into sight for another hour or so. Looks like we were slightly off in our calculations."

Luffy lifted Koby bodily by the shoulders and stared him in the eyes, "But I'm going to make it now right? Right?!"

Koby smiled a bit unassuredly. "We'll be racing the tide, but… maybe?"

Luffy looked at Koby and asked, "Racing the tide?"

Captain Hazzard came out on deck at the call. He pulled out his own spyglass, scanned the horizon. "Ensign Luffy, we have to be in the safety of the harbor before the tides get too low, otherwise we risk running ashore on a sandbar or a reef. I will not lie to you. It's going to be close Ensign. The tide is still building now, but it's going to turn before we can make port. At that point we'll be fighting the receding water. It will be a race to safety before the water gets too low and we'll be pushing against the seas themselves by the end."

Luffy blinked, "Do you think we are going to win?"

The Captain looked at Luffy, "There is a chance, especially since I'm willing to take a few risks to get reach your posting on time, but it's going to be close. If we just had a bit more wind, I 'm almost sure we could manage it."

Luffy bit his lip, then thought. An idea ballooned. He started pulling off his uniform again. Koby looked at him curiously. Luffy mumbled to himself, "It's a long ways, and I 'm going to need to eat a crap-ton of meat when we get to shore, but I think i can pull this off."

Koby looked at him strangely, "Luffy, what are you going to do?"

Luffy looked at Koby, "Koby. I need you to lock the pirates below decks for the rest of the trip. What I am about to do is going to tire me out really bad. In a couple of hours I'm going to be pretty close to useless." Luffy then realized he was holding something important. Whoops! "Also take this drawing and get a snail going on every piece of paper on the ship. Maybe we can catch the Cat-Burglar! That will help make up for the fat lady escaping!"

Koby puffed up even as he blushed again for some reason, "You can count on me Sir!" He then offered a salute. Koby the handed the drawing to an eager crew member and began the difficult job of switching ships via the tie lines. A couple of Hazzard's crew were quick to join him, more were quick to get paper.

Nice Captain Hazzard looked at Luffy curiously, "What are you going to do exactly?"

Luffy smiled, "You'll see!" He then tied a rope to each of his ankles and extended his arms until he was able to grab the mid-arm of the mainsail. After pulling himself up, he yelled. "Gumm-Gummm…"

* * *

Captain Perry Hazard had sailed the East Blue for ten years as a Marine. He had also served for an additional seven as an officer on several private vessels. Add to that, he had captained _the Star_ for more than decade. In that time, he had indeed seen quite a few things, and even met a few Devil Fruit wielders. Not all that long ago, he was even introduced to a young Marine that could turn himself into smoke on a whim. Luffy though was more impressive. If not in scale of power, but sheer brute focus of will.

"**BALLOON!"**

It had to be the thousandth time Luffy had inflated himself. He was always careful to do so on the downwind side of the main sail, as to not to steal any precious wind. Luffy then used the ropes to pull himself into proper place behind the main mast, braced himself in four directions…

Everyone near the mast raised their umbrellas.

"**PPSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHBBBBBBBBTTTTTTttttttttteeee.**" An impossibly loud raspberry ensued. Well not impossibly long because Luffy had equaled it at least nine hundred and ninety-nine times before."

Each release of air gave the two ships a slight boost in speed, and sent the masts to creaking. One such blast was impressive, the fact Luffy had kept this up for hours bordered on miraculous. Granted, now everything near the mast was coated in layers Luffy saliva, hence the umbrellas, but it was awe inspiring all the same. To actually see one sailor overcome the seas through sheer stubbornness.

Captain Perry looked up. He could make out the individual people on the shore, staring at the ships desperately fighting the receding tides as they battled their way into the harbor. Without Luffy, Captain Perry would have weighed anchor the moment the tides turned and waited. If Luffy wasn't in desperate need, he'd have still brought this to a close hours ago. The stricken _Star _suffered a near brush with a sandbar, an accident which would have stranded the ship in receding tides. The already weakened vessel would have found itself fighting more and more of its own weight as the water receded. It would have likely spelled the ship's end. But _The Star_ groaned and creaked, and then was free. Pulled onward by the relentless will power of Marine Ensign Monkey D. Luffy.

So Perry resolved to push onward and forward. This young man deserved his shot at a clean career start.

Captain Perry made a few more calculations. "Two more Luffy and then the oarsmen will have it!"

The ensign nodded wearily, and crawled again to the far side of the main mast.

"Gummm-Gummm….** BALLOON**!"

Umbrellas were again raised.

The helmsman fired a flare, signaling their intentions for an emergency entrance to the harbor. There was a somewhat surprising hesitation before the harbor replied. Then the long raspberry happened, the oarsman at their locks combined with the wind boost again were able to overcome the receding water. The _Miss Love Duck_ was truly past the jetty now, they just needed to get their own stricken vessel out of the riptides.

"Gummmmm-Gummmmm..."

Umbrellas went up.

Luffy completed the cycle one more time. His face was purple. Everything about him screamed exhaustion, but Luffy managed yet one more blast, and it was perhaps his best yet. The _Star of Yotsuba_ slipped into the harbor to the resounding cheers of the oarsman and the shocked expressions of the onlookers at shore.

An exhausted Luffy, utterly spent on the last blast, fell from the rigging. The young Ensign smashed face first into the deck with even less grace than that description implied. Still, Captain Perry had experienced three days with the Ensign, so he called for an impressive lunch and a large barrel of water knowing that was more urgently needed than any doctor. The Captain paid the exhausted Marine no further mind as he issued orders.

Well, other than making sure he carefully stepped over the unconscious Marine.

"We're not to the docks yet boys!" Perry shouted, "So heave to! If we're successfully moored in the next two hours, then I am granting every single one of you three days paid shore leave! At least once the Marines take those damned pirates off our hands!"

The cheers for Luffy had been loud, the cheers for Captain Perry were near deafening. Captain Perry smiled. Heroic Marine or not, no self-respecting Sea Captain could allow himself to be completely upstaged during a crisis!

For his part, Luffy started snoring.

* * *

Lieutenant Junior Grade Rokkaku watched the improbable display of seamanship with something akin to awe. One ship entering the harbor fighting the tides was an unlikely feat, but to do so while towing another stricken vessel? Well that was just insane! How they did it was just as confusing as to why they risked it. Doubly so given that the ship doing the towing was a well-known pirate ship. One that was captained by that vicious hag Alvida.

Rokkaku swallowed as his small platoon formed behind him. At least _The Miss Love Duck _was flying a white flag. As bravely as he could, the man shouted, "State your business here!"

The face that greeted him didn't belong to Alvida, or one of her pirates, it belonged to Old Captain Perry Hazzard. The old Captain looked like a cat that had swallowed the canary. "Greetings Lieutenant! We had something of a misadventure. It left us with one unexpected delivery for the garrison and several more for the cells!"

Rokkaku then noticed the vessel being towed was most assuredly the _Star of Yotsuba, _although it looked like it had definitely seen better days. Rokkaku allowed himself to smile, "Seems Captain Alvida picked an unfortunate target there old man! Glad to see you can't keep an old Marine down."

Captain Perry nodded as mooring lines were secured. He then dropped a rope ladder to allow the Marines aboard. "She did indeed! Come on board lad! We have civilians that need rest and food, not to mention a pirate crew in need of caging!"

The Lieutenant nodded, "You heard the old man. Time to do our jobs as Marines!" Lieutenant Rokkaku climbed the ladder with practiced ease only to hear thunderous cheers from the assembled crew and passengers. Although clearly surprised, he puffed up nonetheless. How could he not?

A man in a ruined, but probably once expensive suit, quickly grabbed his hand. Shaking it vigorously. "Damned good to know Marines are still kicking the snot out of any pirates that dare show their faces!"

A young lady, probably still in her teens, ran up and hugged the young Lieutenant, "We were so scared! Thank you so much for helping us!"

The floodgates for the joyous passengers seemed to open, and for a brief moment Rokkaku was fighting a figurative tide of grateful well-wishers. His men were as bemused as he was, but every damned one of them shook hands, exchanged high fives, gave hugs, and received back-pats. One young Private was even thoroughly kissed by an amorous older lady.

Every one of the Marines smiled big. Every one of them had some shame in their eyes.

Captain Perry quickly noticed the onslaught of thanks were now taking a toll. So he spoke up loudly and with authority, "Okay folks. You're all safe now, but these men still have a duty to perform. Lieutenant there is a young Marine Ensign on board who can give you the full details while I deal with the civilians. I will of course make myself available for any follow up inquiries you may have."

Rokkaku nodded, "Very good sir."

Old Captain Perry smiled, then addressed the passengers at large. "Okay good people. Let me inform all of you that as soon as the pirates are offloaded, my first order of business is to make sure every one of you find transport to your next destination. Unfortunately _the Star of Yatsuba_ is not going to be able to fulfill its obligations and… " Rokkaku watched as the focus of the relieved passengers was slowly, but surely, pulled off of the Marines and onto the old Captain himself. The crowds thinned, and the Lieutenant eventually spied the exhausted young officer hastily buttoning up his uniform. For some unknown reason, there was no less than a dozen empty plates scattered around him.

Rokkaku walked over to the young Marine, who basically panicked, and abruptly stopped buttoning up his shirt so he could throw a crisp salute. Rokkaku hid a smirk. Technically he deserved several demerits for being in such shoddy shape, but given the kind-hearted mauling his own men had received, Rokkaku wasn't without sympathy.

Still, he was an officer and frowned is best officer frown. "You look somewhat the worse for wear there Ensign. Care to explain?"

The ensign nodded. "Sorry sir. Getting in to port proved a lot harder than I thought it would, sir."

The Lieutenant allowed himself to nod sagely. "Yes I understand you were ambushed by pirates. I can understand how that may prove taxing."

The Ensign looked at him strangely, "Not really sir. The pirates were kind of pathetic honestly. Although I messed up and hit the fat lady too hard and she got away. Sorry about that, sir." Rokkaku was finding it somewhat difficult to follow the Ensign's logic, but that didn't stop the disheveled Marine from continuing. "What really stunk was blowing on the sails hard enough to get the ships here in the harbor on time." The Ensign blinked, then abruptly laughed, "Now that was way harder than I thought it was ever going to be!"

Lieutenant Rokkaku actually felt himself blink.

* * *

The Lieutenant blinked stupidly at Luffy. Koby could sympathize. Luffy just had a way of making one's brain abruptly cease functioning for several seconds. At least until you got used to him.

Koby waddled towards his friend. Waddled because was carrying an extremely large sheaf of papers. The _Star's_ crew had been very enthusiastic about copying the Cat-Burglar's description. Very enthusiastic. On the back side of any number of the descriptions were old log notes, journals, inventories, etc. Almost any piece of paper had been deemed worthy of a visit to a copier snail. With a grunt, Koby set the heavy load on the deck. Almost absently, Koby turned over the first drawing. It took him barely a second to realize someone had made it on the backside of an important map. The map of local depth soundings to be exact. A rather important piece of information that could keep one's ship from running aground.

Yes, the crew was a little too enthusiastic. With a sigh, he set the piece of paper back down on the small tower of risque drawings. Koby then moved to stand by his friend and tried to explain something to the Lieutenant… only to find it shockingly difficult. Evidently, trying to explain Ensign Monkey D. Luffy was a surprisingly daunting task.

After a moment to consider, Koby decided brevity was the best course of action. Best keep the explanation as simple as possible. "It's a long story, but to make it easier, let's say Ensign Luffy beat up all the pirates really easily. Also, he ate a devil fruit and so he can inflate himself like a balloon, which made it so he could blow on the sails really hard. That's why he's out of uniform. Does that make sense?" There, that was simple and direct enough.

The Marine Lieutenant now blinked stupidly at Koby. Koby was confused. He thought he had done an adequate job explaining, but maybe this guy's habit of blinking stupidly had nothing to do with Luffy.

Koby nudged Luffy in the ribs and side-whispered, "He doesn't get it. Maybe you should show him."

Luffy side-whispered back, "I can't. I'll rip my clothes apart and get in trouble."

The Lieutenant's brain finally restarted. "You realize I can hear you right?"

Luffy's response was to be expected. "No. That was why we were whispering."

Koby managed to restrain himself, but the Marine officer in front of him obviously hadn't built up any immunity to Luffy's blunt honesty yet. There was the familiar smack of hand and forehead colliding, and soon the Lieutenant had an angry red welt below the brim of his hat.

Koby could sympathize with that as well.

"Lieutenant Rokkaku!" The Marine officer was cut off from whatever else he might say and turned abrptly as a young private ran up to him. "The pirates are all secure on the other ship, but we have a problem." Somewhat shame-faced, the private held out a piece of paper, "They have an Axe-Writ."

Ensign Luffy frowned, "What's an Axe-Writ? I've never heard of it." Koby didn't know himself, but had a sinking supposition.

The young Lieutenant growled, "Understood. We're still putting them in the cells for the night. Go inform Commander Ripper. We'll let him tell Captain Morgan and sort this mess out."

Koby was actually shocked when Luffy firmly grabbed the paper out of the Private's hands. Marine Ensign Monkey D. Luffy then turned to face the Lieutenant. "Sir. What is an Axe-Writ?" Luffy's voice was polite, almost formal. But Koby knew it was the strange politeness Luffy sometimes (though rarely) used. The kind he had shown Alvida. A politeness that was business-like, calm, and very false.

The Marine Lieutenant was not amused. "Ensign! You are looking at a superior officer," The Lieutenant pointed at the additional bar on his uniform's sleeve, "I am under no obligation to answer your questions."

Luffy was unmoved. For a moment the world seemed to stop. Koby's knees trembled, the Marine Lieutenant himself almost buckled. Luffy's voice was arctic. "Sir. What is an Axe-Writ?"

To Koby, it was almost like the Lieutenant was made of paper. So completely did he fold in on himself. He even refused to meet Luffy's gaze as he disintegrated before Koby's eyes. "It's a guarantee of safe passage in the waters surrounding the 153rd."

Luffy's voice was grim. "Safe passage from the Marines. That doesn't sound like anything an honest ship would need."

The Lieutenant obviously found his boots very interesting.

"Is this something Commander Ripper writes?" Luffy's voice held no warmth, whatsoever. He was almost trembling in his outrage.

"No. Only Captain Morgan writes them."

Luffy slowly nodded. The gesture was almost mechanical. Then slowly, methodically, he started squaring away his uniform. By the time he was done, Luffy looked to be the spitting image of a Marine recruiting poster. Right down to the firm set in his jaw and darkly dangerous look in his eyes.

Ensign Luffy glanced at Koby. "Koby, make sure the Lieutenant is handed all the copies of the Cat-Burglar description." Luffy grabbed the top piece of paper off of Koby's stack, "I'll make sure this goes up with the wanted posters at the garrison on my way."

"On your way… Luffy… What are you going to do?" Koby asked a question. It was a dumb question. Koby already knew the answer. But he asked it anyways.

"Me?" Luffy's voice had not gained appreciable warmth. "I'm going to report for duty to the Commanding Officer."

Luffy's knuckles popped. A sound that was almost deafening in the still, silent bubble the ship's deck had become.

The Lieutenant jumped at the implicit threat in the sound.

Koby shivered.

Then without a look back, the Ensign hopped over the rail and started marching towards the huge Marine base on the hill.

Koby silently wished Luffy luck. Almost absently, Koby finally remembered to hand over the large stack of papers he had been holding onto. For the now thoroughly shamed Lieutenant, a glance at the contents did not help his red-faced appearance very much.

* * *

**Greeting all. So I just finished this weird non sequitur in the series. One moment Luffy is in a prison on his way to try and save Ace, the next he's fighting a giant beetle on the Thousand Sunny.**

**It really is that abrupt.**

**I guess my feelings about this weird mini-arc are kind of negative. Besides coming out of nowhere and being disjointing, I also found it disappointing. It would have been nice if it didn't have the moronic Net dude, who is very uninteresting even by the low standards of throwaway villains. What would have sold this story to me is if it centered on Nami and Yoko. They have so much in common. It really could have been the heart of a nice little sub-story. Of course... the beetle and Luffy are also very similar, so it could have been comedic as well**

**I strongly doubt Oda wrote this, which is too bad, because Nami facing someone so similar to her, but making the opposite decision, could have been interesting. (1-2 minute pause) I just double checked, and it's anime only. I do really think it had the makings of being something more than it was. Instead we get a throw away villain, Luffy saves the day, but nothing really special happens. Its just a weird plot cul de sac.**

**Anyways, I am looking forward to Impel Down. Let's see what lies beyond the gates. After all, Luffy risked everything to save Robin from it!**

**PS… Are copier snails a thing? It feels like they could be a thing... I don't know, so please forgive me if they aren't a thing.**

**PPS: If anyone has any interest in BETA, doing basic outlining with me, or lore checks, please feel free to message me. There is a lot of lore in One Piece.**


	4. Bad Things (Part 2)

Nami actually felt herself blink. She stood on the shore, and literally felt herself blink. What? Why? When? HOW?! She stared in abject dumbfoundedness as the battered _Star of Yotusba _pulled into harbor. Nami wasn't even completely sure dumbfoundedness was an actual word, but it definitely described her current state.

Nami successfully sailed to the island yesterday evening, hiding her little boat in a specific lagoon she had mapped out some time ago. The lagoon was protected from prying eyes by dangerous reefs, but Nami was a damned good sailor and previously charted a bypass of these obstacles. A bypass that could be used, even at lower tides, by the small vessel she had _borrowed_ from the pirate ship. Still, the route to the lagoon took quite some time, and once completed, left her with a significant trek into Shells Town. In spite of that, Nami wasn't remotely prepared for _the Star of Yotsuba_ to arrive this early. Although in her mind she knew Shells Town was easily the most logical place for the victorious ship's crew to head, Nami believed it would have taken them at least two more days for them to arrive at the harbor town. Ample time for Nami to case the base, pull off her heist, and skip town before anyone from the _Star_ arrived to possibly identify her.

Obviously she made some faulty assumptions, and now people who could recognize her were pulling into port.

"Excuse me miss?" A young Marine Sergeant asked her. A Sergeant that notably lacked the ability to look her in the eyes. The Sergeant approached Nami as she continued to blink at the harbor. The Marine continued, "You look a little lost, and I don't recognize you from around town. Perhaps I can guide you somewhere… scenic to help you get your bearings."

Nami mentally rolled her eyes, but deliberately giggled as vapidly as she could stomach. In her mind she decided this Marine Sergeant could get her past the gates at least. That was a start. Starting was now an imperative since her deadline had abruptly moved up. Her mind couldn't yet formulate anything close to a full plan, but Nami always took pride in her improvisational skills.

"Actually," Nami smiled sweetly, "I was hoping to inspect that _big_ base much more closely." Nami winked, "And much more _thoroughly_." Nami watched a dark gleam enter the sergeant's eyes. For some reason, she didn't feel her normal gagging sensation at the look. It was more akin to something dying in her heart at the sergeant's dark gaze.

Yes these were the Marines as Nami knew them now.

* * *

If Luffy had ever heard the word apoplectic, he'd have applied it to himself.

These Marines were selling the right for pirates to hunt and hurt innocent people. Ensign Luffy could not imagine anything more disgraceful. More awful. It wouldn't have mattered if Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself was in direct command the 153rd, Luffy would have still walked up to him and punched him in the nose.

Because of this rage, Luffy was pretty distracted. So something important took a while to grab his attention. Quite a while actually. Eventually though, Luffy did notice the townspeople were scattering out of his way as he stomped up the street. All of them were very willing to give the Ensign an extremely wide berth. Luffy honestly started to grow a little concerned. These were people under the direct protection of this command, and him panicking them wasn't a message he really wanted to send. After another minute or so of people hurriedly closing their doors as he walked by, Luffy spied a little girl with her arm in a sling. He smiled at her tentatively, only for the child to run away in such a panic she tripped and fell down. The girl landed bad on her injured arm, causing her to tear up, and Luffy instinctively moved to aid her.

The girl's mother got there first. When she did, she glared angrily at Luffy, stopping him short. The woman moved to shield her daughter from Luffy, like she thought the Ensign would hurt her. Her eyes flicked to the insignia on Luffy's sleeves, causing Luffy to follow her gaze. Luffy looked at the bars that marked him as a Marine officer, and for the briefest of moments, he felt dirty. Luffy took a moment to deal with a doubt he was not yet ready to come to grips with. Carefully stowing it in a safe place until later, Luffy then snapped himself back to here and now.

Luffy had a greater priority to address.

Despite the doubts they caused in his heart, Luffy still moved to reassure the mother and her child that he meant them no harm. He even took another deliberate step in their direction, only for the little family to recoil instantly. Luffy watched the defiance seep from their expression, only to be replaced with terror.

A voice behind Luffy smirked at their reaction. Yes to Luffy's ears, the voice itself seemed to smirk. "Well that's pretty rude. Such impoliteness. I do wonder how my daddy would take that." Luffy turned to see some blond skinny guy flanked by two bored looking Marine Corporals. The skinny guy, who was wearing an ugly purple suit, was making a show of examining his nails. He looked at Luffy a bit more carefully, "A Marine officer no less. Tch, tch, tch. Yes, Daddy will be very, very angry."

Luffy glanced at the girl and her mother. He didn't like the worried expression on their faces when they looked at the weirdo who was now speaking. Not one bit. Luffy deliberately decided to step between the family and the weird guy in purple. Luffy made a point of pointing to the insignia on his sleeve, reminding both himself and the two Corporals what it actually meant. He might be the lowest rank in the officer core of the Marines, but he _was_ a member of that core. The way the Marine Corporals barely reacted irritated Luffy. Instead they looked to the weirdo in the purple suit, who had bowl cut of all things, as to what they should do next.

His anger rising quickly back to its boiling point, Luffy response was asking an obvious question. "Do you know them?" Luffy indicated the family behind him.

The blond guy with the bowl cut initially looked upset that Luffy would step between the family and his little group, but his expression quickly changed. Bowl Head became deliberately casual. "Yes I do. I have reason to suspect that girl there is a criminal."

Luffy blinked. He didn't think particularly well when he was angry, or 'at all' if you asked Gramps. Luffy normally just wanted to skip to the point where he could start punching bad guys. His grandfather told him repeatedly that wasn't okay. Luffy was an officer, so there were rules that needed to be followed before punching bad guys could begin. Gramps had told him repeatedly he had to discover what the situation was. Who the bad guys were, why they were the bad guys, and just how bad they were. All these questions that needed to be answered. Otherwise, Gramps insisted, you were no better than any petty thug forcing his will through brute strength

This made things complicated sometimes. Not just because Luffy had to ask himself if the rules said he could punch a guy before he did it, but because jerks were allowed a chance to explain themselves even in the most obvious of cases. It's why he gave that angry fat lady a chance to surrender. It was why this guy would get a chance to explain himself here. There was even a chance that Bowl Head might be in the right, although Luffy honestly didn't suspect the child was actually a criminal.

Luffy was an officer. Gramps had expectations. Things needed to be investigated. So Luffy craned his neck over to look at the girl to ask another obvious question, "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" The girl yelled defiantly. Unfortunately for the girl, Luffy could tell she was lying.

So could Bowl-Head. The jerk in the purple suit yelled back, even going so far as to flap his arms rapidly while doing so. "You're a liar! I saw you! And I am so telling Daddy on you!"

Luffy had difficulty deciding who was more childish in tone, although who was more childish in action was a no-brainer. Luffy glared at the two Corporals, "Keep Bowl Head out of this, I'll talk to her. He will get to say his side in a minute."

Bowl Head didn't seem to like that. "My Daddy—"

Luffy glared hard at Bowl-Head and causing him to shut his mouth with a click, then Luffy glared harder at the Corporals. Quickly the two Marines put four restraining hands on the loud mouth to calm him down. That wasn't quite good enough in Luffy's opinion. The Ensign decided he needed to make one thing very clear to Bowl-Head, "I don't care who your dad is. You will get your say after she gets hers. That's the end of it." Bowl-Head gurgled, but was otherwise quiet. Luffy then walked over so he could crouch in front of the little girl. "I need you to tell me what you did. I need you not to lie. If you lie, I won't be able to help you very much."

The girl nibbled her bottom lip, "You're not going to just take his side?"

Luffy laughed, and when he did, the girl relaxed a little. Luffy smiled his kindest smile, "Trust me, I already don't like this guy. Even his hair is stupid!" Bowl-Head gurgled again, Luffy glanced at him meaningfully, Bowl-Head got quiet again.

The girl smiled, but it was a small thing. Luffy could still see her fear, "I think he's still mad because I fed Mr. Zoro. That's why he told that Marine over there to throw me over the wall." She pointed at her sling, and the Marine Corporal that caused it.

Bowl Head crowed, "There she just admitted it! Men put her in chains!" Both Corporals stepped forward.

It took Luffy a moment to process things. He even enacted that habit that angered his grandfather, and took the time to blink stupidly. For a moment, the whole world stopped as Ensign Luffy imagined a Marine deliberately tossing a young helpless child far enough and hard enough that she was injured. Then he began to witness that Marine moving to place that same injured girl in chains. It was similar to the way certain bandits long ago laughingly tried to kill a seven-year-old boy.

And these were Marines, not bandits. Luffy snapped back to awareness.

Luffy decided to take this personally.

"**Belay that order**!" Luffy roared! Both Corporals actually jumped back. The little girl that was tugging on Luffy's uniform desperately, dove back inside her mother's arms at the shout. Luffy was apoplectic, even if he didn't know what that word meant. Luffy now knew everything he needed to know. He knew who the bad guys were. How bad they were. How hard to kick their asses. And that knowledge was more than a bit sickening.

For his part, Bowl Head almost screeched when his men jumped backwards. Bowl-Head shouted, "What are you doing!" Whether or not he meant Luffy, or the other two marines, was difficult for anyone to actually tell. Whatever his meaning, Bowl Head continued, "She just admitted it!"

Luffy hadn't just reached his absolute limit, he smashed clear through it! Luffy stood up and faced down Bowl-Head and thundered, "**Are you a Marine**!?"

Bowl Head looked confused, "No but my Dad—"

"**Are you a constable in this town**!?"

Bowl Head started waving his hands around violently, "No, no just listen—"

"Then. Shut! **UP!**"

Bowl Head grabbed Luffy by a shoulder and screeched, "Who do you think you are?! When my Daddy hears about thi—grk…" Bowl Head folded over Luffy's fist. He completely collapsed inward on himself, then puked all over his stupid purple shirt before pissing in his purple pants.

Luffy grabbed him by the hair and straightened him up forcefully. Luffy used his Gum-Gum powers to hold the taller man completely upright without quite yanking him off the ground. Luffy explained, again, what the situation was to Bowl-Head. "Listen to me carefully. I don't care who your dad is. I will never care who your dad is. Right now, it the girl's turn to speak. When she is done, you are going to answer my questions. Question like, 'Who gave you the authority to order Marines to injure children!' Do you understand me Bowl-Head!?"

Luffy doubted he did, because as soon as he released him, Bowl-Head was up and running away. Well more like lurching away. "Just you wait until you face my daddy, THE Captain _Axe-Hand_ Morgan! Then you'll be sorry!" Luffy debated, but ultimately let him go for now. Despite Luffy's threats, beating on weaklings wasn't something he really enjoyed doing, and Luffy honestly doubted he'd get anything useful out of Bowl-Head without going that far.

Both Corporals were about to turn tail and follow. For Luffy, the two Maines fleeing was a different matter entirely. The Ensign decided they definitely needed to stay. He grabbed them both by their collars before they managed even one step. Luffy voice went cold. "Hello Marines." One of the corporals in particular shivered at the Ensign's tone. "We have much to talk about. We will start with which one of you threw a child hard enough to injure her. After that, I want to know who and where this Mr. Zoro is. And we'll finish with Axe-Writs and who here at the base knows about them." Both Corporals looked at each other nervously.

Holding both Marines by the scruff of their necks, Luffy turned to the town at large and shouted, "I need you all to tell me what exactly is going on around here!"

* * *

Nami was shown through the gate easily enough. The first thing she noticed upon being waved through was some poor sod strapped to the post. The man was looking longingly at some mushed up rice pounded into the ground. It wasn't hard for Nami to understand just how this guy was being tortured.

Nami knew the safe play of course, but something about the man called to her. She wasn't quite sure why, but it did. While the Sergeant drooled in her general direction, Nami felt something very specific in one of her hidden pockets. She decided to take a small risk.

"Who is that?" She asked fluttering her eyes in a way that Belle-Mere always saw straight through, In case it wasn't completely obvious, this Marine was no Belle-Mere.

The Sergeant puffed up right away. "That is the mighty Pirate Hunter Zoro! The Great Demon Swordsman of the East Blue! He is to be detained here for ten more days before his punishment is over. He'll know better from then on how to properly treat Marines and doubtlessly behave better in the future."

Nami cooed, "What did he do?"

The Sergeant smiled beatifically, "I'm afraid that's classified information Miss…" A bit of panic was in his expression.

Nami fought to not roll her eyes that he already had forgotten her name... or the name she had given him.

"Luffy silly." Nami wanted to gag at the tone she decided to use.

The Sergeant smiled widely, "Ah my dear Luffy, how could I forget."

Nami again asked in a slightly wheedling tone, "You really can't tell me why—"

The Sergeant was adamant, "Sorry, but that is strictly classified information. He is being detained by Captain Morgan himself! Don't worry though, you're completely safe from him while we Marines are near."

Nami nodded enthusiastically, but mentally she understood how Zoro ended up where he was. Maybe not in specifics, but sometimes specifics didn't really matter and she resolved to do what she could. Ten plus days without food or water was a brutal punishment. Using a vacant expression and a few enthusiastic "Oohs and ahs," Nami had the Sergeant explaining the proud history of the 153rd and motioning grandly at the base's main building. With that small distraction, Nami palmed one of her ration biscuits into the strange green haired man's mouth as she passed by him. Pirate Hunter Zoro was clever too. Nami was grateful he didn't immediately give the game away. Zoro deliberately held off on chewing until Nami and her escort were well on their way inside the main base itself.

It wasn't much, and water probably would have helped the man more, but it was something. Nami wished she could have done more, just couldn't quite bring herself to risk anything more.

Belle-Mere would have.

Ruthlessly Nami reminded herself tat Belle-Mere wasn't here no was she?

Before the Sergeant noticed, she wiped a tear from her eyes with the heel of her hand.

Once inside, Nami was fully composed again. She wasted no time in asking if the two of them could go somewhere really quiet for a little while. They didn't end up quite where the Marine Sergeant expected though. In fact, he quickly ended up locked inside a cozy supply closet at the end of what he had just assured her was a seldom used maintenance corridor. He also ended up rather unconscious, a side-effect of being hit hard in the back of the head with Nami's collapsible bo staff. Nami honestly couldn't believe this guy had let her this far inside the base without even once checking to see if she had a weapon.

Yes these were the Marines as Nami now knew them.

Still, the Sergeant had served his purpose and got her past the gates and even into the base proper. He also hadn't been too obnoxious or forceful in trying to get what he was obviously seeking. Nami mentally planned on calling the base on a transponder snail once she was safely on her way.

There was another big problem though. She needed a way into the officer's quarters.

Nami knew, the Sergeant was never going to be able to grant her that. Granted, it wasn't like the building itself was locked, but a Sergeant giving a civilian a tour of officer's quarters would have looked more than a little suspicious. So Nami needed a better bluff. One that could explain, exactly, why she was somewhere she normally shouldn't be. Hence why she introduced herself to the Sergeant as Miss Luffy.

Nami smiled. A new officer not quite sure where she was going, that would explain a lot now wouldn't it?

All she needed now was an officer's uniform with a feminine cut. Hopefully, an ensign's uniform. She smirked. Nami's plan was going to cause all sorts of problems for a poor Marine that didn't really deserve them, but right now she had strict time constraints. Hopefully, Nami could bluff long enough to get in, get out, and escape in the confusion before the Marines sorted out just what had happened.

Get out holding the latest official Marine charts of the Grand Line.

To be honest, Nami wasn't even sure why she wanted the charts this badly. Sure they were worth a pretty Berri, but Nami didn't have any real intention of selling them. Maybe, since her indentured servitude to Arlong was almost over, she was hoping to finally head off on her own adventure. One where she could chart the wildest and most untamable of the seas. One where she might be the first to ever step foot on an island. The first to chart it, and the course to it. Maybe she could even draw the first truly safe course through the entirety of the Grand Line!

She might even one day help chart the entire world.

There was a sense of freedom in that dream. A dream that was hers!

After a little frustrated searching, Nami concluded there were no Ensign uniforms with a female cut. That complicated matters a bunch. In fact there was only one female officer's uniform at all. One that was slated to be sent back to the main depot as an incorrect order. Nami held the uniform up. At least it had the correct jacket, no way this could have worked without it.

Nami cast around the room, the room was well organized so finding things wasn't difficult. She quickly found everything she needed. A braid here, a badge there. Lastly she found the only Ensign ranked identification cards in the files. Monkey D. Luffy hmm… Nami was glad the name Luffy was suitably gender neutral. There was a surprising note with the cards that proved suitably interesting. Nami thought of everything she said to the Sergeant upon gaining entry to the base. A plan fully solidified. Carefully, from years of long practice, she altered Ensign Luffy's identification cards enough to fit her needs. Eventually, it came time to see if the uniform fit well. After all, it wouldn't do for Marines of certain rank to look overly shabby.

Unfortunately, the fit wasn't exactly perfect. In fact it wasn't very close at all. The length wasn't bad, and the boots were closer still, but she had to unbutton the top quite a bit just to make breathing easier. Unbutton to the point it looked much more suggestive than she really wanted it too. Still, it couldn't be helped. At least she found a way to somewhat offset this. Nami decided to wear the Coat of Justice instead of draping it on her shoulders as had become the prevalent style, and that helped hide the fact she was nearly bursting out at the seams.

It should be enough

_Here I go._

After all, if you were going to bluff, might as well bluff big.

* * *

Rika was a child. She thought as a child. She understood as a child. She believed as a child.

And she was beginning to believe in Ensign Luffy.

The town was angry. The town was scared. Rika lived in the town so she was very much part of it. So she was angry and scared too. And she told Mr. Luffy why. Then the town told Mr. Luffy why. Well not the whole town, but a lot of people in the town sure did. From Helmeppo and his mean dog, to Axe-Hand demanding money from all of them as tribute. People told all sorts of bad and mean stories about the Marine Captain Morgan, because someone was finally listening to them. Every time they finished one, Ensign Luffy glared at the two Marine Corporals he had grabbed outside. When the town finished speaking, Luffy was probably as mad as anyone else in Shells Town.

Luffy paced back and forth through most of the stories. After the last citizen finished talking, Luffy continued to pace. His eyes were shady, and his face was very angry. Rika thought that maybe he needed a few more minutes to calm down before he decided what he was going to do. Like he needed a little better control of himself before he did something he regretted. Rika's Mom had been like that when Rika came back home this morning. Seeing Rika's arm dangling had made her mom very angry, and because she couldn't do anything about Helmeppo, she yelled at Rika for sneaking food to Mr. Zoro. Or started to. Her mom stopped herself after only a few words and simply started crying. Her mom was a very nice mom who really did like Mr. Zoro, and Rika knew her mom was scared more than angry. Eventually Rika's mother settled for begging her daughter to be more careful. Because of that moment, when her mom yelled at her for doing the right thing, Rika had some understanding as to why Luffy needed to calm down. Mr. Luffy just needed to know who really deserved being yelled at.

Of course, Rika's mom didn't pop her knuckles nearly as much as Mr. Luffy.

Finally Mr. Luffy stopped pacing. He then glared at the two other Marines. "**ATTENTION**!" Both corporals snapped to their feet. Luffy looked them over once. "Do you even know what being a Marine means?"

One of the Corporals tried to respond, "You don't understand sir! Captain Morgan is terrifying. He's like a literal monster!"

Luffy glared at him, "So? You're a Marine! It is your _duty_ to protect people from monsters!"

The Corporal gaped at him, tried to say something, then couldn't. He then went silent. Rika kind of felt bad for the Corporal, even though he was the one that threw her over the wall. He looked ready to cry. Luffy dismissed him and stared hard at the other one, "What's your excuse?"

The other Corporal was already slouching. He even yawned. "I didn't sign up for this. Go give your recruitment speech to someone who might actually care."

Luffy stepped back and actually looked confused, "So you don't care about people suffering. Like at all?"

The Corporal shrugged, "Not really what I meant, but I guess close enough. It's more like I'm pretty sure Captain Morgan is going to come down here and split you into kindling no matter how I personally feel about it. He'll probably do the same with half the damned town just to make a point afterwards. Nothing I can do will prevent that, so why worry about it?"

Luffy nodded as he now seemed to get it. "Okay then. You're dismissed. The other Marine still has my permission to stay."

The Corporal raised his eyes and smiled, "Nice to see you can be reasonable."

Luffy shrugged then looked at one of the town folk, old Constable Sheru. "You're the local constable right?" Old man Sheru nodded, "Great. This man is facing a dismissal from the Marines for conduct unbecoming. He may have committed crimes or have knowledge of crimes against this town and because of this, he might consider running away. I suggest arresting him."

The room went quiet. The dismissed Corporal, or former Corporal, was the first to break that silence. He marched directly at Luffy with a furious expression on his face. "Now see here—," Luffy stopped him with a look.

Just stopped him. Like he hit a wall or something.

Luffy took a moment, but when he spoke, it was like he was completely disinterested. Like this man was of no consequence at all any longer. "By your own word, you have broken your oaths to the Marines. You said it here, in front of dozens of witnesses. That makes you unfit to _be_ a Marine. Now go with the constable. If you don't, I'll kick your ass and _then_ you'll sgo with the constable. You'll just be unconscious and sporting a lot of bruises. You _will_ have your chance to say your side after I call Vice-Admiral Garp and tell him the situation here." Luffy turned to the other Corporal, and his voice snapped harshly, "Private, follow me."

"Sir!" There was a small hesitation, then the Marine timidly offered, "B-but I'm a Corporal sir."

Ensign Luffy didn't look at him, he didn't turn, he didn't even pause. He simply asked, "You threw a child over a stone wall. Do you think yourself worthy of that rank?"

The ex-Corporal hung his head. Luffy took two step more steps before finally pausing. It took a few moments, but eventually Mr. Luffy turned around. He walked back and touched the Marine briefly on the shoulder. Rika knew something important was unsaid. Rika knew it was important, because the Marine straightened up almost right away.

The Marine saluted, "Private Koinobori reporting for duty, Sir! May I request one moment before I resume my duties!" Mr. Luffy nodded, then Mr. Koinobori looked at Rika and fell to his knees supplication. Putting his nose on the floor, the Marine Private pleaded, "I am so sorry miss. Please forgive me!"

Rika walked over to the Marine, "I'm okay. I tucked just like you said and only got a few bruises." It didn't seem to help, because the Marine didn't immediately rise, so Rika patted his head softly. The Marine started crying when she did

Eventually, Luffy knelt beside the crying Marine. "Come on Marine, we have work to do." The Marine nodded from his place on the floor, and stood and faced the Ensign. Luffy smiled, patted Private Koinobori on the shoulder, and again readied himself to go.

Rika watched Luffy with the some level of confusion, along with everyone else, "What are you going to do Mr. Luffy?"

Ensign Luffy smiled at her, and Rika felt something touch her heart. The same way Mr. Zoro had touched it when he stood up against Helmeppo. "First off, I'm going to release a good man from being tortured. A man who hasn't even been accused of a crime." Rika smiled big at those words. "Second, I am going to place this wanted poster with all the others at the garrison. Third I am going bring charges against Captain Morgan and have him arrested. Last, I am going to send for Vice Admiral Garp so he can get a worthy Marine to run this place!" Rika blinked at him, and Luffy patted her shoulder, "I'll start fixing this mess. Trust me."

Rika looked at him, still worried. "What are you going to do if Captain Morgan fights you? He's very mean and very strong."

Luffy smiled big. It was a very kind smile. It made her feel safe. Rika already loved that smile. Then Ensign Luffy laughed, "In that case, I guess I'll have to kick his ass before arresting him." Luffy ruffled her hair kindly, "There, problem solved!"

If Koby was there, he might have expected a chorus of palms striking foreheads, and there were more than a few, but Rika didn't notice. Because Rika believed Luffy. One could say she believed _in_ Luffy. Completely. With all the trust a child could muster.

And she wasn't alone.

* * *

The statue was magnificent. A tall man of noble and powerful bearing proudly sporting the wounds that had not crippled him, but made him stronger. The marks that gave him rank. The undeniable proof of victory. Of greatness itself! Captain Axe-Hand Morgan nodded his noble visage of the monument blessed with his own likeness. Absently he scratched at his iron jaw with the blood stained axe embedded in his arm. It really was too bad it wasn't wholly perfect.

Another great irritation reached the roof of the tower.

"Daddy—irk…" the sniveling disappointment with a bowl cut collapsed to the floor. Like its strings had just been cut. Or like it had just been poleaxed. Or punched in the face by one. Morgan tried to smile at his own mental jest. This was admittedly a difficult task these days, but he tried all the same.

Captain Morgan didn't normally bother striking the piece of filth that wandered around in his shadow. Today though, the smear on his honor was spoiling a moment. An important moment. _The_ moment. _His moment!_ Finally, a proper monument to Morgan's greatness, to his strength, stood erect atop the highest building on the island! It was magnificent, if no longer completely perfect. Captain Morgan stepped over the remains of some lowly recruit who had dared scratch it and also ruin this day of triumph.

With effort, The Great Captain Morgan tore some of his focus away from the grand monument before him. "What are you doing here?" He looked with disdain at this stain upon his greatness. It smelled of puke and piss. Captain Morgan was often amazed that this lowly thing somehow had his glorious blood in its veins. "Why would you dare come to me in such a sorry state? Especially on such a day! Do you even understand to whom you are speaking? You bask in the presence of the Mighty Captain Axe-Hand Morgan! He who sent the feared Captain Kuro to the gallows!" There was no answer forthcoming, enraged Morgan turned fully and bellowed, "Answer me when I ask you a question!"

There was still none forthcoming. One of the Marines, the one granted the extreme honor as serving as his aide no less, offered his unwanted input. "He may be unconscious, Sir."

Captain Morgan considered the proper punishment for an aide who spoke without being asked a direct question. Morgan decided a flogging would do. Captain Morgan was nothing, if not magnanimous. He made a mental note. "No matter. Clean that up," Morgan waved his hands vaguely at both the dead recruit and the unconscious whelp on the floor. "Then go down to the whipping posts immediately afterwards."

"Why sir?"

Captain Morgan glared at him, and in his mind, immediately upped the flogging from a mere twenty lashes to fifty. The man swallowed hard, grabbed the two pieces of excrement spoiling the atmosphere of the room and hurriedly dragged them away. Captain Morgan fixed his magnificent gaze upon one of the other remaining Marines in the room, "Call the Master Sergeant. Have him pull out the cat o' nine tails." One other Marine promptly saluted, then ran from the rooftop with suitable haste. Morgan glared at another, "Someone get a mop and bucket and clean this place properly!"

The rest of the Marines, _HIS_ Marines, rushed to comply.

Morgan was just about to get lost again in the monument's magnificence when his personal transponder snail rang.

"Burda-burda-burda. Burda-burda-bur—CahLick!"

"Why are you daring to interrupt me?" Morgan demanded.

"_Sir, you requested to be informed immediately when Vice-Admiral Garp's grand-uh-child, Monkey D. Luffy, reported for duty, Sir!"_

Captain Morgan blinked, "Hmm, I thought he must have missed the tides. Curious. Put him on, I want to know why a mere Ensign took all afternoon to report for duty."

There was a bit of hesitation, "_Well there are two problems sir. One is Monkey D Luffy is um, Vice Admiral Garp's Granddaughter, so… um not a he, Sir!_"

Captain Morgan was infuriated. Not that Ensign Luffy was female, but that the forms had so thoroughly been botched on such a simple detail.

Growling, Morgan asked, "Fine, put _her _on. I don't care that she's a woman or a Marine Hero's granddaughter. She's still just a damned Ensign and I want to know why she didn't immediately report for duty!"

"_Sir… that brings us to the second problem._"

Infuriated, Morgan shouted, "What's the second problem!?"

There was a notable swallow on the other end of the line, "_Umm, sir… Monkey D. Luffy isn't an Ensign, she's a Lieutenant—"_

Morgan had hit his limit, whomever filled out that paperwork was going to be keel-hauled. "Fine then put the Lieutenant on! I have had about all my patience can bear!"

The snail changed, and a female voice full of command took over. "_Captain Morgan, sorry for my delay and the subterfuge involved with my orders, Sir. Both are a bit beyond my control. I didn't immediately report for duty due to receiving orders directly from my grandfather to perform a thorough inspection of these facilities, the garrison, and the town itself_."

Morgan snarled, but there was slightest hint of doubt in his voice. "You're lying! No way High Command would send a lowly Lieutenant to inspect a Marine base!"

The female voice chuckled, "_That would indeed be a grave insult to the 153rd. Unfortunately, you interrupted the young private too soon. I am Marine Lieutenant Commander Monkey D. Luffy. Granddaughter of Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp. I am under a sealed order to conduct a surprise inspection. These orders are sealed due to the concerning reports surrounding the 153__rd__, reports that have now reached the desk of my dear Grandfather. Unfortunately my orders can only be unsealed by the Admiralty itself, which shouldn't prove too great a hindrance since my grandfather should be here in just a few days time. I assure you I promise to be fair, but I expect your full understanding… and cooperation._"

Captain Morgan blinked stupidly for a moment, then screamed. _**"WHAT!?"**_

* * *

**So a few added names by myself simply because there aren't enough named characters on the island. So please forgive me if you don't recognize a few of them.**

**Fair warning to all, and no one complained it's just something that occurred to me, these Author's notes will contain hints and impressions of where I am currently in the series. If you're somehow behind me, you have been fairly warned from here on out.**

**So I am through the gates of Impel Down now and I've enjoyed this arc more than I thought I would. This isn't an indictment of One Piece story telling. It's just as much as I like Luffy, him not having his friends to even him out sounded like a bit of a bad idea. Too much Luffy has this sense of being exhausting. Plus, the show just did Amazon Lily which was a pretty heavy dose of Luffy fighting people, not thinking things through, over eating, making new friends, and just being Luffy. Wasn't sure I really wanted more of that, and was kind of hoping more focus would shift to the crew. Especially Zoro and Nico Robin who have really compelling settings in their own right.**

**Buggy showing up right away in Impel Down helped… but he hasn't been the star of the arc yet for me.**

**Enter Bon Clay! Damn do I now like Bon Clay! Like a surprising amount!**

**I thought he was a caricature of a caricature when I was first introduced to him, but he is excellent in this arc. Funny, supportive, absurd, bad-ass, and generally a lot of fun. I also like his pain when Mr. Two leaves Luffy so the Straw Hat can have his showdown with Magellan. Even if it can be argued, staying would have just led to Bon Clay being in as sad a shape as Luffy, I like how quickly and how drastically Bon hates that he made the easier choice.**

**Which leaves me with the tension of what will save Luffy now. **

**Have to admit I'm not too worried though, after all Bon Clay is already on the way… plus the fact there are literally hundreds of episodes to go is a bit of an unavoidable spoiler the Luffy is going to be okay. **


	5. Anything!

Commander Ripper sat on one of two battered chairs inside the infirmary. Not all that long ago, this room was seldom used, the local physician only rarely called. Maybe there was the odd broken bone here, maybe a random training accident there. One time Ripper himself needed to have his appendix removed. Still a year ago, the room was often empty for weeks at a time. Even the local diseases seldom proved more than mildly irritating.

That was no longer the case. The battered chairs here were now often in use. Almost as often used as the infirmary beds themselves. Two were occupied even now. The hated Helmeppo occupied one. Captain Morgan's fop of a son lay completely unconscious. The doctor just recently finished bandaging the idiot's empty skull after Helmeppo's father tried to stove it in. Morgan turning his rage on someone as universally despised as Helmeppo would have normally been somewhat cheering. But there was no comfort here. Not in the face of what happened today.

A dead Marine recruit, death shroud pulled up to shattered remains of his chin occupied another bed. All Ripper could truly contemplate was the shattered remains of this Marine. Blood dripped. Commander Ripper couldn't even identify him. A young Private, one who also served as Ripper's aide, identified the corpse for him.

"Recruit Ukkari, sir."

"Do we even know why?" Commander Ripper asked, not that it mattered. Maybe his dying heart was simply hoping there could be some possible excuse for this... this...well, this.

"According to the report, the incident occurred while they were erecting the statue. Ukkari's rope slipped from his grasp. This caused the statue swing briefly resulting in chipping and scratches to Captain Morgan's monument." There was a heavy pause as the private swallowed. "It occurred right in front of Captain Morgan."

Commander Ripper nodded wearily, his throat dry, his heart dead. "I see." Somewhere in the adjacent office, a transponder snail began to ring. The Doctor had excused himself back to the village after attending Helmeppo. There was no one to answer it. None but Ripper and his aide.

Ripper let it ring. The Marine Commander doubted it could be anything nearly as important as this.

The 153rd's second in command closed his eyes, briefly reliving the path that led him here. A year ago, when he learned that the great hero Captain Morgan was on his way to take command of the 153rd, Commander Ripper had been ecstatic. Shells Town may have been a sleepy little village at the tail end of the Yatsuba Archipelago, but it was not without treats. Both the _Big Top_ and _Miss Love Duck_ were significant local pirate ships. Ships that had thus far proved too allusive for the garrison and the small squadron it serviced. Also, these islands were not that far removed from the favored hunting grounds of Don Krieg and his Armada. Admittedly, so far the local Marines had been blessed enough to never deal with that specific maniac, but a year ago, sightings of the most feared pirate of the East Blue were plentiful in the area.

Ripper's current smile was both sad and hard.

After Morgan's transfer became official, but before Morgan took command, those sightings of Krieg abruptly ceased. The correlation was not lost on the garrison, nor on Commander Ripper. It was, for Ripper, proof how lucky they were to have such a fearsome Marine hero lead them. To have the man that took down Captain Kuro, he of a thousand plans, serving right here in the flesh. It gave Ripper the sense of pride he craved, maybe even needed, in being a Marine Officer. Even if Ripper was an officer in a far off backwater, far from the Grand Line, he still served in the cog of greatness that was the World Government's Marines. Commander Ripper had even worn his Coat of Justice the day he actually turned over official command to Morgan.

Commander Ripper shook himself. This was done not with a physical act, but simply reminding himself of a singular painful memory. As the 153rd stood assembled for that ceremony, Ripper proudly explained that Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan was, "The perfect measure to rally the entire 153rd, including myself, out of our shared stupor. Captain Morgan can fully prepare us to deal with the local pirate menace once and for all. With his leadership, the Yatsuba Archipelago will finally become the standard for safety and prosperity for the entirety of the East Blue." His fellow Marines had enthusiastically applauded the sentiment. Of course, that was not how things panned out.

Commander Ripper couldn't look away from the remains of Recruit Ukkari. Had this young Marine applauded with his fellows? Applauded the man that would prove his executioner? That it was all too likely wasn't even the worst part. Most damning of all was that Commander Ripper remained almost solely focused on how hard this was for him personally. Not the men. Not Ukkari's family. Certainly not Ukkari himself. At this moment, Ripper was shamefully focused on simply how difficult the aftermath would be for him. After all, he would be the one to twist the official reports. He would be the one to inform Recruit Ukkari's next of kin in just such a way. Commander Ripper would be the one to hide the facts surrounding this young man's death... because the alternative would be to let Captain Morgan handle it.

Having a grieving family get a notice of dereliction of duty, followed by a curt note of summary execution, was not something Ripper wanted to put a family through. Especially since the Marines would not investigate a hero of note like Captain Morgan. Morgan was held up as too much of an example to ever be brought low. For commander Ripper, that was not a fact easy to come to grips with. Being self-aware also did little to make this insight any more palatable.

Commander Ripper closed is eyes in despair. Ukkari's mur... death wasn't even the only matter before Ripper that shamed the Marines.

A couple of hours earlier, another young Marine, one who was (hopefully) still alive, walked in and handed the Marine Commander an Axe-Writ. An Axe-Writ issued specifically to the crew of the _Miss Love Duck_. Axe-Writs were written promises from the 'Mighty "Axe-Hand" Morgan' that allowed safe passage, free of all Marine interference, for any ship for a period of exactly one year. For smugglers, Axe-Writs were a boon, but for pirates they were the ironic chains that shackled their enemies. A chain Ripper and his men were too weak to break.

A chain that forced Ripper to call Morgan as soon as he received the writ. Forced to interrupt their taciturn Captain while he was in the midst of having half the garrison haul 'The Monument to his Magnificence' to the roof of the tallest structure at the base. Captain Morgan did not take this interruption kindly. He also did not take kindly to the news that his written promise had been violated. Captain Morgan demanded that Old Perry Hazzard, and _any_ that aided him, be immediately thrown in the brig for violating the orders of a Marine Commanding Officer.

For the Commander, well Ripper could only think that Perry Hazzard hadn't worn a Marine's uniform for close to twenty years. Even if Hazzard had only taken that uniform off a week ago, how could he have possibly known what Morgan's standing orders were? Commander Ripper rested his weary head against his palm. Even if Perry had known, could Ripper really reprimand a good man for defending himself against the like of Alvida?

Needless to say with Captain Morgan, mollifying his commanding officer had not been easy for Ripper. Morgan was adamant his subordinate was just making excuses. Excuses that greatly offended Captain Morgan's pride. In the end, Ripper promised to have Perry pay a hefty fine for the violation. Ripper also recommended levying additional fines on any unauthorized port entry that should be paid by everyone on board the ship during the violation. When Morgan accepted that idea, Ripper reminded his Captain that Perry needed to be piloting his ship in order to pay those fines off. Morgan had still balked until Ripper, desperate, explained that being merciful was a show of strength in its own right. Morgan had sneered, no small trick over a transponder snail while sporting an Iron jaw, but ultimately decided he would grant clemency just this once.

All of which was small comfort to Commander Ripper. After all, he was the man who would have to release those pirates. Under Ripper's orders, those pirates would board their ship and sail away. Then the Marine Commander would have to explain to the people whose lives and livelihoods those pirates had just threatened. Explain to these good people that this was all done with complete Marine approval. How he would convince those soon to be very angry people that forming a mob and going straight to Captain Morgan was terrible idea? Well that was anybody's guess.

What Morgan would do once an angry mob showed up at the gates was not.

The transponder snail was still ringing.

Commander Ripper sank down in his chair, ready to be swallowed by his despair. He held his head in his hands and tried to keep from weeping, "Private, please answer that."

"Yes, Sir." The private stepped out of the room. For the first time in Commander Ripper's life, he seriously prayed. Not to any specific deity. Not to the world. Not even to the universe at large. He didn't pray to something that could really be named, because Commander Ripper's first serious prayer was to anything. Could anything, anything, please come and help him?

The results rather surprised Ripper.

The effectiveness of prayers is often disputed, but for the remainder of Commander Ripper's life he truly believed his prayers were answered. Not that he became religious or devout in any form, but he could never deny in his heart of hearts that when he was desperate enough to pray to anything... well that was when anything showed up

And anything was plenty pissed off. Anything was even more pissed off than a very specific Vice Admiral who had to ring the Marine switchboard for several minutes. A specific vice Admiral that wasted no time bellowing at a hapless Marine Private over a transponder snail. The transponder snail was even spitting on the poor Private. Something Ripper never saw before or afterwards.

Yes anything was even more pissed off than that.

* * *

"Are you Zoro?"

Roronoa Zoro looked up so he could glare at the speaker. The speaker was some green kid in a Marine Officer's uniform. The kid also looked kind of angry about something. Not that Zoro really cared about whatever had some snot-nosed barely-officer upset. Zoro had ten more days, then he would march out of this shithole and never look back. That was where his focus lay.

The kid tapped him hard on the shoulder. Zoro hardened his glare further, even as he sought to ignore the kid harder. Zoro was never one inclined towards caring about Marines. Marines tended to look down on people like him. They tended to make his life difficult whenever it suited them. Also, Marines tended to be weaklings and cowards. Marines, after all, were people who needed rules to prop them up. Marines were the ones that needed to hide their inability behind numbers. To inflate deeds through propaganda. To sneer at those with true goals to attain.

Granted, Zoro hadn't always quite disliked them as much as he did now, but what were you going to do?

The kid put his face right in front of Zoro eyeball to eyeball. Zoro yawned in response as he continued to ignore the brat. Damn, Zoro wished he had a stiff drink. He also wanted water. He may have even wanted water more than alcohol. Another reason to ignore marines and not answer their stupid questions.

Zoro's thirst caused him to briefly wonder about the girl. She had been so vapid, Zoro dismissed her almost instantly, just going back to staring at the ruined rice-balls that twit stomped into the mud. Then, before he could do little more than react, the girl slipped an actual ration biscuit deftly into his mouth. All done quickly and quietly while the moronic Marine she was with spouted nonsense about how amazing the local Marines were. A bit unfortunately, the travel biscuit she decided to slip him had been on the salty side. A fact that really didn't help with his thirst, but just the act of kindness itself was fortifying.

Zoro wondered. Who was she? Why did she do it. Not that he wasn't grateful. Thirsty or not, Zoro's stomach had basically rejoiced at the morsel of food. Still, why would some civilian take the risk? He'd have to ask her. Zoro took his focus from his memories and musings to the upset Marine kid in front of him. Kid was still waiting for answer to his stupid question. He was also pressing his index finger into Zoro's forehead in a way that was exceptionally annoying.

Zoro really wanted to shout, but his voice was much to dry.

Zoro croaked, "Would you just quit it?"

The kid looked at him curiously, and then re-asked his stupid question. "Are you that Zoro guy?"

The kid's voice was serious. Not threatening, but the words were spoken with calm iciness. Zoro still wasn't impressed. Especially since the kid hadn't moved the finger that was still poking him in the forehead. Zoro again delivered the kid the glare that had sent many Marines scurrying for cover over the past twenty days. At least when those Marines didn't have sufficient numbers to egg themselves on. To help convince themselves, even if only briefly, that they were strong.

The kid eventually removed the finger. Not that it was related to Zoro glaring. Honestly, the kid didn't seem to really notice the glare. Now that Zoro really looked, this kid wasn't really sulking. He actually looked royally pissed off. Zoro felt something important inside himself stir. Even though the kid was someone so fresh from training someone could barely call him an officer, Zoro's fighting spirit rose up in response. Zoro knew someone issuing a challenge when he saw one. A challenge the kid looked very interested in following through on. Zoro's glare settled into a confident smile.

Now that Zoro deemed the kid truly worthy of his attention, he also realized he didn't recognize this kid at all. That meant this brat had stayed away up until now. That was something interesting and possibly important. Also, the kid wasn't currently punching him. That was at least a point in his favor. Zoro decided to answer the challenge in the kid's eyes.

Finally, Zoro answered the question the kid so desperately wanted him to answer. Even though Zoro's voice was raw from thirst, it still radiated confidence. "Yeah, I'm Zoro. What of it?"

The kid nodded before turning to the Marine standing by his side. "Cut him down and give him some of your water." The older marine immediately moved to saw through Zoro's bindings with a knife. Unlike the kid, this guy looked a little familiar.

Zoro glared at the guy sawing through his bindings even as he continued to speak to the baby officer. "This some kind of trick? According to you guys, I've still got ten more days of being strapped to this thing." The guy doing the cutting really was familiar… maybe he was some base grunt Zoro that got off on a few cheap blows. There had been several of them after all.

Then Zoro recognized exactly who it was. It was the shit that tossed the little girl over the wall! Zoro felt his arm was now free. Concerns over what this meant in terms of the bargain he made with that ugly mutt's owner went out the window. Zoro wasted no time seizing a man that hurt children roughly by the throat.

Zoro's eyes gleamed, his voice was dangerous. "So you like beating on little girls, do you?" Zoro thought of Kuina. Someone who was denied the chance to ever become strong. Someone who doubted she even could! Zoro smiled a smile that was all sharp edges and uncomfortable angles. The grunt's eyes bulged in surprise at the cut off air supply, but the panic, the fear, Zoro expected just wasn't there. Instead the grunt gazed at the kid questioningly. On reflex, so did Zoro.

The kid stared at Zoro, completely unperturbed. Well beyond already being pretty damned pissed in general that is. The kid took a moment before speaking. Like he was carefully selecting his words. "However you feel about this man, there are rules. Whatever happened before, if you harm any Marine, I won't be able to help you."

Zoro snorted and did not remotely loosen his grip. "Yeah, I've had enough Marine help recently."

The kid shrugged. What he stated next was filled with absolute assurance. "I'll also have to kick your ass."

Zoro felt as though his very soul was challenged with that statement. His warrior's spirit, already roused, rushed to the fore. Zoro eyes glinted in the evening light. "Yeah, big man when I'm strapped to a post. Cut me down from here. Then we'll see who kicks whose ass."

The kid's anger abruptly vanished as he looked at Zoro with curiosity. After a moment the kid did the most unexpected thing Zoro could imagine. He laughed. It wasn't a laugh filled with threat, malice, or cruelty. There wasn't even any challenge in that laughter. It was just honest, simple laughter. The kid smiled, "That's kind of what we're trying to do."

Zoro blinked stupidly for a moment. Okay it was several moments. Then he shook his head and chuckled himself. That was actually a pretty good point. He still held the Marine grunt by the throat for another few seconds, just because he felt like he should, but he didn't squeeze any harder. After those seconds had passed, Zoro opened his hand. The grunt fell to his knees coughing loudly. He then weakly offered his knife to the kid who promptly began freeing Zoro's other arm.

There was a shout. "What is going on here?!"

The kid looked to the coughing grunt on the ground, "Who's that?"

The grunt swallowed roughly a few times before answering. "Sergeant Major Bichi," the grunt coughed for another moment, "He runs the yard." Another cough. "He's also a bastard."

The kid shrugged, "Not like I ever met my father either." It was a statement that caused Zoro to blink again. He was pretty sure he could hear himself blink this time. The kid didn't seem to notice, he just stepped out in front of the charging Marine. Zoro knew this asshole well. This was a fat coward who, fatherless or not, was too fond of his whip for Zoro's tastes.

The fat Marine swung his whip at the kid. Casually, absently, the kid snatched the end out of the air. The kid spoke to the asshole calmly, "My name is Ensign Monkey D. Luffy. I am releasing this man under my authority as a Marine Officer in service to the World's Government. This release is grounded on the principle that no one has officially charged him with any crime. This is a clear violation of the Marine codes of conduct, therefore he is being held illegally." The kid took a moment, like the he was double checking his speech to make sure he had said it all correctly, then continued. "In other words it's against the rules to keep him prisoner without saying what he did wrong."

The Sergeant Major stopped short. He was blinking stupidly at the young Officer holding the end of his whip. After nearly twenty seconds of doing this, the bastard got himself back together. "First off, a Marine _Ensign_ has as much chance of countermanding a Marine _Captain's_ orders as I do of bedding Boa Hancock. Second, you're not Luffy, she's been here for over thirty minutes, I escorted her to Captain Morgan myself! Thirdly, this man is sentenced to death by firing squad tomorrow morning and I'll be damned if I am pissing off 'Axe-Hand' Morgan when he's in the mood to kill someone!"

The kid blinked stupidly, and for a brief moment, Zoro did too. Zoro honestly felt stupid that he expected the damned Marines to keep their damned word. Then Zoro felt angry at his own stupidity. Next Zoro realized the kid was telling him something that Zoro didn't catch. Finally, Zoro realized the kid had put the knife in the hand of the swordsman's already freed arm.

Zoro grinned.

* * *

Captain Morgan was furious.

Lieutenant Commander Luffy was standing in the suitably palatial office of the Mighty Captain Morgan. She stood behind Captain Morgan's own hallowed desk. Breathing the air of _his_ inner sanctum. She seemed almost unaware that she stood in a room which bore the triumphant trophies of a true Marine hero. A true Captain. Almost lovingly, Captain Morgan stroked the very noose that strung up the infamous Captain Kuro. Almost subconsciously, Morgan looked to see the Lt. Commander's reaction. Expectantly waiting for her to ask the appropriate question. To be impressed. To be humbled.

Luffy didn't so much as turn. This… this insult to his greatness just continued to stare out the window, arms lightly clasped behind her back. Like all of this was routine. Mundane. Unimpressive even. Morgan grated his teeth as this thing, THIS THING, of borrowed reputation willfully ignored him! Instead she chose to watch the lowly piss-ants that scurried in the courtyard below.

Morgan's grinding of his teeth became audible to his own ears.

Most galling of all though was not Luffy's inattention or lax attitude. It was the disgusting envelope in her hands. Or, more precisely, the disgusting thing that was on that envelope. The envelope bore a seal, of simple wax, that mocked Captain Morgan. A seal Morgan, despite his heroics, wasn't deemed worthy to break until he stood in the presence of Vice Admiral Garp. Morgan himself had examined the seal closely before conceding it was indeed that of the East Blue's Commanding Fleet Officer. The thought galled the heroic Captain. So Morgan continued to grind his teeth, and Morgan continued to glare. Both actions aimed at Luffy. Something that continued to bother her not at all.

The grinding of teeth began to be audible to people in the room. The two men in the room that served in Morgan's garrison began to sweat at the sound. Luffy didn't even bother to turn.

Morgan firmly decided that even if Luffy's attitude had been acceptable, her very appearance here would still have been the gravest of insults. That anyone in High Command, even a Vice Admiral, would decide it necessary to evaluate how Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan chose to command his garrison was a complete and utter disgrace. That they would send this child, someone that had claimed no victories yet presumed to wear a Coat of Justice, convinced Morgan that it was long past the time he demonstrated to Garp what a true Marine Hero looked like.

Morgan smiled at the thought. Once Garp was dealt with, well his granddaughter could join him in whatever hole Morgan saw fit to put them in. After all, if Garp let this Luffy wear The Coat of Justice, Morgan might as well give Helmeppo his very own Battleship!

A lowly private entered. Morgan had never bothered learning his name. The private looked like he was terrified to be here. That, at least, was an acceptable attitude.

"Are these all the personnel files?" Luffy asked without bothering to turn from the window. Morgan didn't deign to reply, he just glared even harder at the back of the Lieutenant Commander's head. The Private, freshly back from his errand from the clerk's office, did. But only after fearfully looking at his Captain.

Again acceptable. At least one person in this office knew who was really in charge here.

After Morgan gave the barest of nods, the Marine finally answered Luffy's question. "Yes, Ma'am! All active duty Marines assigned to the 153rd are there. Even you ma'am."

Garp's spawn of a spawn smiled a shark's smile as she turned to face the Marine that spoke. "Thank you Private. I would like to get the interviews underway as soon as possible." She cocked one eyebrow inquiringly at Captain Morgan, "This office should do for now. We'll start with the lower ranks, perhaps in twenty minutes or so, after I have made some cursory reviews." An awkward pause hung in the room. Luffy's tone took on the note of command, "These interviews are to be conducted in private, Captain."

Morgan stiffened like lightening shot through him. Had a lesser rank just saw fit to dismiss him? From his own office!? Morgan again looked at the hated envelope in Luffy's hand. Almost with a vain hope, Morgan reached in to the stack of files, quickly locating and pulling the one labeled 'Monkey D. Luffy.' He thumbed it open. The rank was incorrect. The sex was incorrect. The photo though was a spot on match. Morgan glared at it, willing it to somehow morph into someone else, anyone else. After that didn't work, he glanced at the rest of the page.

"You're merely seventeen?"

'Lieutenant Commander' Luffy looked up at him. While he had been studying her file, she had the unmitigated gall to sit down at _his_ desk. Her smile was smug, "Garp's legacy tends to open doors." Morgan resisted the urge to spit. She looked at Morgan a moment longer. For a moment she looked uncomfortably shrewd. Like those in command sometimes looked. Men and women who had reached their position through politicking and back door dealing and not through merit or strength. Luffy looked at the Captain, and Morgan could see the smugness in her gaze. "I'd also like to see your intelligence files from Navy Headquarters as well."

Captain Morgan was jolted again. It didn't feel like lightening this time. It was the cold bite of fear. He spoke, and when he did, his voice was polite for the first time. "What files would you be looking for in particular?"

Luffy's eyes were discerning as she hummed briefly to herself, "Oh the intelligence reports on the local pirate threats to start with. Don Krieg sailed for the Grand Line not all that long ago, so a few pretenders moved in to fill in the vacuum. Their movements and believed whereabouts could prove useful to my grandfather's operations as he tries to bring them all to heel." Morgan relaxed ever so slightly. Then Luffy dropped the other shoe, looking Captain Morgan in the eyes while she did so. "I also want to make sure your Atlas contains the latest maps from Marineford."

Captain Morgan swallowed. Somehow, Luffy knows. That means, somehow The Vice Admiral Garp knows. Garp might be old and overrated, but if the Vice Admiral was ever handed proof of the theft, Captain Morgan knew his glorious career was over. Who else knew? Obviously, somehow one of the Marines in the garrison found out and treacherously informed command. Rage ad fear flooded Morgan's system.

How Buggy managed the theft in the mere five minutes he stood in Morgan's office was up for debate. All that mattered was that while the bastard purchased his Axe-Writ, Buggy somehow stole the entirety of the Marine Atlas right out from under Morgan's very nose. Captain Morgan was enraged when he found Buggy's pirate's mark where the Atlas should have been, but for appearance sake dared not rescind the Axe-Writ. After all, how would Morgan ensure secrecy if he suddenly went after _The Big Top._ People couldn't help but talk about any change in the status quo. Morgan couldn't even blame those under his command, since Captain Morgan had invited the clown into his office himself. Morgan was even the one that searched Buggy.

No one should have known. Morgan had sealed the pirate's mark in his personal safe to be sure… but someone did know… how? HOW?!

A thought occurred.

This was a conspiracy. Someone that was threatened by his might had seen fit to humiliate him. Someone old. Someone past his prime! Doubtless it was no less than that weakling Garp himself! There was a sense of relief with that realization. Also a renewed sense of purpose. After all, Morgan was a man who ruled through strength, not subtlety.

Unlike that old fossil, Morgan was a man of action.

* * *

Nami saw Morgan stiffen. Very subtly, she prepared herself. She may have just overextended.

Nami had been watching Morgan's less than subtle posturing through his reflection in the glass while contemplating just how she was going to pull this off. At least Luffy still hadn't arrived at the garrison. Each moment he was somewhere else cemented that Nami was actually Luffy in the mind of this idiot in charge. Morgan's jolt and suddenly politeness had been intriguing though. Nami had smelled blood in the water. It probably led her to overplaying her hand given Morgan's new aggressive change in stance.

"When is Vice Admiral Garp due to arrive?" Morgan asked casually, almost smugly.

Nami hummed a few moments in mock contemplation. _Twelfth of whenever?_ Nami thought sarcastically. Outwardly, she just pulled out her spectacles with feigned nonchalance, as if she fully intended to begin reading the files. Absently, she tucked an errant hair behind an ear, a gesture that hid her eyes as she carefully scrutinized Morgan's reach. "As I understand it, he's already on the way," Nami said calmly. Carefully, with deliberate normalcy, she added, "This inspection needs to be complete before he arrives." Morgan's response was telling.

Captain Morgan took a long step forward, so close the desk was almost against his knees. "And should the 153rd prove lacking."

Nami looked at him, her smile was false. Something angry in her heart woke up. Briefly Nami considered Ensign Luffy, she hadn't even spoken one word to the Marine, but he was proving something of a dangerous influence on her. Because, even though there were a half dozen different tacts she could use to avoid violence, Nami decided Captain Morgan was a bully and fool. Utterly wanting when compared to someone like her mother.

Hanging around the pirates of the East Blue, Nami obviously knew exactly what an Axe-Writ was. It might have even influenced why she chose this particular outpost to specifically steal from. The reason why Nami decided Morgan deserved to be humbled.

Nami smiled a bit brighter, and more than a bit harder as, she decided to threaten Morgan. Maybe fear would get him to calm down, Nami doubted it would, but maybe. Either way, this wasn't a man worth being afraid of. After all he wasn't really a Marine. He was just some pirate too timid to actually do the work that label normally required.

Her false smile was as brutal and merciless as any sun in any sky. "Then it will be up to the Vice Admiral to execute his discretion." Morgan tried to smirk. Tried to smirk, but failed. And not because of his iron jaw. Nami saw too much real fear in the Marine Captain's eyes even as Morgan tried desperately to bury it in bravado.

"Interesting turn of phrase," Morgan offered. It was so obvious a threat Nami almost laughed. After all she could tell when someone was psyching themselves up instead of truly threatening their target. Arlong would have just moved, but then Arlong was so dangerous because he wasn't stupid.

When Morgan attacked, Nami almost rolled her eyes. Damn was he slow. The thief was moving before Captain Morgan's arm even began to descend. She kicked off the desk, the chair had wheels, so she easily cleared his reach. Also standing that close to the desk might look intimidating, but it just kept him from extending his reach. This Captain Morgan truly was an idiot.

Granted, Nami never thought of herself as particularly brave. Even as furious as she was, Nami honestly half-expected panic to descend on her shoulders like a lead weight, but it did not manifest. Only a fierce iciness filled her. Morgan was no Arlong. He wasn't fast. He wasn't anywhere near as strong. Morgan was incredibly stupid. As far as the bullies Nami had experienced in her life, Captain Morgan was almost laughable.

Nami had previously noticed the three swords leaning against the wall. She snatched the one in white as she jumped out of the oversized chair. The sound of the blade sliding free of the scabbard was surprisingly satisfying. Nami's face was set. Honestly, she had no idea on how to really use a sword, but just holding the blade made her feel better. Like it was a channel for her cold fury.

Nami pointed that channel directly at Captain Morgan's chest.

Morgan spit, "You're no swordsman."

Nami took a stance she had seen people practice before. It felt awkward and probably looked worse. Still she smiled her most beckoning smile. "Why don't you come and find out?" Morgan sneered. It was hard to tell, with the metal jaw, but his eyes definitely sneered at her. He stepped forward, Axe arm held high above his head. Ready to smash her from on high, Completely contemptuous of anything she might do to him. Completely reaffirming Morgan was an idiot.

Nami lifted the blade as if she intended to block the strike. Morgan's eyes followed the blade and when they did, Nami promptly kicked him in the balls. It was a move well practiced. It was a move long perfected. The devastation it wrought did not disappoint. Morgan's eyes immediately crossed as he slowly slumped to his knees. Human hand cupping his family jewels, axe-hand hanging useless at his side, Morgan was completely defenseless before Nami's follow up. With a cruel smile, Nami smashed down with the pommel of the sword. There was a dull crack as the unyielding steel hilt connected with the still very human temple of a large idiot. Morgan hit the ground pretty hard, his immediate response was simple groaning.

The fight had lasted maybe twenty seconds. Nami smiled sweetly at the three other Marines in the room, "Are you going to side with me," she waved her sword at Morgan who, you had to give some credit to, was already crawling back to his knees, "or are you going to side with him?" Nami took a quick mental census, of the three Marines, two at least looked like they were wavering towards her direction.

Morgan tried to bellow and pretty much failed. He was too whoozey and wheezy for his voice to truly manage something like a bellow. Still he did croak out, "If she's still breathing five minutes from now, you won't be." Swaying on his knees, stunned or not, the threat turned the room decidedly against Nami. She smirked with all the confidence she could muster, but a doubt gripped her. Even though she was pretty sure Morgan couldn't stop her if she decided to do the deed, she didn't think she could actually bring herself to kill someone. Especially if that someone wore the uniform of a Marine.

Even if the man in the uniform only disgraced it.

Nami rapidly broke her own mental stasis. Hesitating here wasn't viable. One of Nami's great mantras was to always understand your surroundings. To understand where you were and what your options are. Staring out the window had given her ample time to spy a simple escape route. Nami decided to take it. Deftly she jumped through the window before the Marines could hope to react. The fall was barely fifteen feet to the sloped roof below. A quick roll bled off most of her momentum, leaving her with an even easier hop to courtyard itself.

Behind and above her Morgan again tried to bellow. "Seize her! Do not let her escape!" To his credit, now he was getting closer to actually being able to bellow. Still a bit wheezy though.

Nami smiled.

* * *

Luffy turned at the wheezing shout. A Marine Officer, who was holding a sword, stood in the courtyard looking up. That officer promptly stuck her tongue out at some red-faced guy who was in the window above her.

The Sergeant Major that had never met his father turned to the guy in the window. "Sir! There is someone impersonating an officer trying to free Pirate Hunter Zoro!"

Red faced guy looked at the bastard and pretty much screamed, "I don't care about that! Stop Luffy! Now!"

Luffy popped his knuckles expectantly. He wasn't sure who Red Face was, how he knew his name, or why the guy seemed to have a metal jaw (seriously the people around here were weird) but those were all questions that could be answered later. Then Whip Guy did something weird even by standards of these local weirdos. Whip Guy decided to basically ignore Red Face and run directly at the lady who just exited the window. Luffy glanced at the Zoro Guy, "Hey can you get down on your own? I need to see what this is about." Luffy handed him the knife without waiting for a reply.

The Sergeant Major continued to rush directly at someone who definitely was not Ensign Luffy despite being ordered differently. The lady officer didn't visibly react to the charging Marine, but instead continued to taunt the guy in the window. Luffy knew it was all an act. The Sergeant Major obviously did not. Just as the angry, fatherless, Whip Guy reached the female officer, whom Luffy could now see was a Lieutenant Commander, the female Marine officer twisted. The sword came up, and the Sergeant Major flinched back, making a distinctive grab for the sword while doing so. Much to the bastard's surprise, he easily ended up holding that sword. It took Luffy barely an instant to realize that the Officer had never held any intention of holding onto the blade, instead twisting away from the fumbling Marine only to bring up a hidden folding staff. Before the Sergeant Major could react, a wooden end cracked him hard across the temple. The impact was loud and easily hard enough to instantly straighten Whip Guy. Back ridgid, ample gut fully exposed, Luffy knew what was coming next. The Lt. Commander next move may have been obvious to all, but that didn't mean it wasn't completely devastating. Whip Guy folded in half as the Lieutenant Commander really stepped in behind her thrust into that big, soft, and very exposed belly. As the Sergeant Major collapsed onto his hands amd knees, she kicked him right in the jaw, knocking him completely unconscious.

She looked at Luffy for a moment. She seemed to mentally weigh something before coming to a decision. Whatever that decision was she started walking towards the Ensign. "Ensign Monkey D. Luffy?"

Luffy straightened up on reflex and saluted, "Yes Sir!"

She briefly broke stride, then waved off his salute. "Put your hand down. My name is Lieutenant Commander Nami. I work for your Grandfather. Every Marine here is suspected of conduct unbecoming a Marine. Vice Admiral Garp told me you'd help me should I need it."

Luffy was confused, and honestly a bit suspicious, "Gramps—"

Lieutenant Commander Nami snapped, "Vice Admiral!" Luffy shut his jaw with a click. She shook off her irritation, then continued, "Anyways, where have you been? Why weren't you on the ship assigned to you?"

Luffy suspicions evaporated as he felt his gut drop… oh crap. Gramps was going to be super pissed. "Uh, I overslept?"

She looked at him hard, "You overslept? How did you even get here?" Luffy thought of Gramps and started shaking a bit… explaining this was going to be really hard. He was saved when the Zoro guy walked up behind him. This angry lady looked at Zoro. Luffy noticed something important that went unsaid between them, but wasn't sure what it was. Finally, Lt. Commander Nami nodded at Luffy, "Well at least you cut down Roranora Zoro."

Luffy pointed at Zoro, "You know this guy?"

Nami crossed her arms, "The Demon Swordsman of the East Blue. Yeah I know him. He's innocent by the way."

Luffy's mind was now spinning, "How did you know?"

Lt. Commander Nami flicked her finger against Luffy's temple. "I. Work. For. Your. Grandfather. Who. Is. A. Vice Admiral!" Slowly Luffy nodded. She then continued, "Let me explain using small words. Zoro's innocent. Captain Morgan is guilty. You are supposed to be helping me. And need to get the situation in hand before the Vice Admiral arrives. If we don't he's going to be angry at both of us once he gets here! Is that simple enough? Do you now understand the situation?!"

"Gramps is on his way?!" The angry officer kicked him in the shin. Luffy didn't move since he was rubber so it shouldn't hurt. Unfortunately, there was a loud crack. "OUCH! That really hurts!" Lt. Commander Nami was mean!

The Mean Lady shouted, "It was supposed to!" She breathed in once and then shouted again. "Now tell me you understand!"

Luffy felt a jolt through his soul at her glare. "Yes Sir! Understood Sir!"

The Zoro guy pointed at the sword in the unconscious Marine's hand, "That belongs to me."

There was another unspoken conversation between Zoro and Lt. Commander Nami. Then she reached down and tossed it to him, "Why do you think I brought it?"

"I'm sure," Zoro said as he caught it. "So we're taking down the big guy with the axe arm?"

"Yes. He goes to the brig. We'll question everyone else afterwards. We need to have this sorted out as quickly as possible." There was the sound of dozens of feet coming down the stairs in a massive hurry. There was moment of hesitation from the Lieutenant Commander, "Don't kill anyone."

The Zoro Guy looked at her and shrugged, "That's going to make it harder."

She looked at Zoro hard. "I mean it," Lt. Commander Nami threatened. Her voice was icy. Luffy thought she looked really cool right there, draped in the Coat of Justice, staring down the East Blue's Demon Swordsman. Like a Marine really should look.

"LUFFY!" The guy who bellowed was the red faced guy from the window. The weirdo who had an iron jaw. He also had an axe instead of a hand. That was also pretty weird. Luffy wondered who he was. Then he saw the Captain rank on his uniform, and Luffy felt his anger resurface.

Lt. Commander Nami spoke next, "You're up." There was another bit of hesitation, "I heard you're pretty strong, but are you sure you can take him?"

Ensign Luffy felt a smile bloom on his face. "Gramps—I mean Vice Admiral Garp told you that I was strong?" Luffy felt pride flow into him as she nodded. Luffy couldn't help but puff up a bit under that kind of praise. "Yeah I'll kick his ass no problem!" Luffy remembered all the stories he had been told about this Marine. "In fact, I'm looking forward to it."

"Should have brought my other two swords." Zoro grumbled. Three swords? Luffy wondered how that worked?

Lt. Commander Nami quickly countered, "Do you really need them?"

Zoro barked a short laugh. "Nope."

Again Lt. Commander reminded them of her standing orders, "No killing."

Both Zoro and Luffy acknowledged her in an instant. Luffy with a nod, Zoro with a grunt.

Lt. Commander Nami stood proud and in command. Her Coat of Justice fluttered briefly in the wind as she ordered them forward, "Alright boys, let's teach these idiots what it really means to be a Marine!"

It was a moment only slightly ruined by the Zoro guy grumping, "I ain't a Marine."

* * *

**Nami. All hail the Queen of blowing hot air!**

**And sometime lightning bolts.**

**As an aside, do you ever wonder how Nami can routinely injure Luffy?**

**Okay, spoilers if you are somehow behind me in the show!**

**Okay I am now coming to the end of Impel Down. The escapee's have rushed through the sea gate and Bon Clay just smashed the controls.**

**Not sure how I feel about this arc honestly. It really had a promising start, then just kind of stalled for a really long while. Obviously I love a lot of the Bon Clay stuff, and Buggy can be a riot. Mr. Three and the robot Luffy was a pretty fun climax. Probably the worst part of this story arc was the villains. It was so hard to ever take Magellan, Sadi, or Hannyabal seriously. They worked okay as gags, but not much towards keeping the tension ratcheted. They just never felt threatening. Yes a giant poison man that looked like a demon and could make giant wall of acidic venom felt less than threatening. I did like Saldeath a lot. He was the only person just focused on doing his job. If a few more characters were like that, I think there would have been a lot more tension throughout.**

**Even Arlong, whom Magellan could punt like a football without blinking, felt much more intimidating. He was just so calmly vicious. Plus he had a true holds over Nami in ways that felt deeply personal.**

**Maybe that's it. Arlong and Nami. Crocodile and Vivi. CP9 and Robin. Those felt more personal, their villain more competent. This was more like the Skypia story arc, where guys danced on balls and had to be told to open their eyes so they could to see. Sure it had moments and the stakes were suitably impressive, but I never felt any real tension. Impel down just felt like something that happened on Luffy's journey, not a thing that ever felt personal to the Straw Hats themselves. Even though the conflict was centered on Luffy's brother.**

**I mean Ace and Luffy didn't even see each other during the entire adventure.**

**Sorry, Oda is a very good story teller. I just didn't like this part of the story nearly as much as I thought I would, especially after the really strong start.**

**So small thing with my much lesser story. In canon, I don't think Morgan actually kills anyone, but I did remember him almost doing so over the statue. A brief rewatch and a quick Google search revealed the poor fellow's name. I felt it important to include because Morgan is important in my story as he establishes something fundamentally wrong with the Marines.**

**Thank you all for reading. Seriously, I appreciate it.**

**Be well and safe and have a safe holiday and a safe New Year.**


	6. A Real Marine

Luffy was scary. Nami already knew he already took out an entire pirate ship. Probably by himself. So his casual demeanor in the face of all the flashing muskets only gave this astounding feat more credence. The hard set of his jaw as he stared down Morgan was enough to make Nami shiver. The fact she could still mentally here his knuckles pop… Nami understood this was not a man she wanted chasing her down.

Still, as scary as he was, as much as Nami understood how dangerous he was, the thief still really wanted to punch him!

Really hard!

After all, she was going to die!

And it was totally going to be his fault!

So Luffy absolutely deserved a good punch!

Under normal circumstances and stress levels, Nami might be able to concede that Ensign Luffy wasn't actually responsible for her current situation. These weren't normal circumstance and stress levels though because Nami wasn't used to this many people shooting at her. Also, Nami had a feeling that the concept of "normal" was altered drastically by Luffy's mere presence.

Also, sometimes it felt good to blame others for certain events rather accept the consequences of one's own decisions.

This was such a stupid way to die.

Nami's anger also fed upon Luffy's complete non-reaction to all the ordinance flying about. The Ensign continued to show zero concern over the fact he was the primary target of a concentrated volley of fire. That didn't help Nami much though, because once the bullets struck Luffy, they tended to rebound backwards with near identical force and unfortunately in random directions. So while the bullets barely irritated Luffy, they were a wildly dangerous hazard for Nami and Zoro. Still, Nami had to admit Luffy just standing there glaring at Morgan was damned intimidating…

Right up until the moment that Luffy started picking his nose.

Nami was so kicking him in the shins again!

After she clocked him!

Then Ensign Luffy somehow… well he somehow got weirder.

"Gumm-Gummmmmmm** WHIP!**"

Nami gawked as Luffy's leg lengthened to absurd levels. He then swung it in a long swiping circuit that swept aside every Marine standing in front of him, sending them tumbling across the courtyard like lawn pins. Well, most of the Marines. There was one exception. Luffy flicked his booger on the ground and strode a few steps forward.

Luffy squared up on the Axe-Handed fiend across from him. "Are you Captain Morgan?"

The tall Iron-Jawed Marine had some doubt enter his eyes, but Nami was impressed that doubt did not reflect in his voice. "I am the Great Captain Morgan. Who the hell are you?"

Luffy's was actually shaking with rage. "I am Ensign Monkey D. Luffy and you are under arrest for… for… a bunch of stuff! So surrender now or I'll kick your ass!"

Captain Morgan's eyes shifted to Nami, and she felt a new and uneasy tension build inside of her. Her momentary panic must have shown because Morgan smiled a tight and triumphant smile. No small feat when half your mouth was made of steel. Nami's mind bumbled around this non-sequitur because Morgan's strange smile was easier to deal with than the undeniable fact that Morgan now understood something very important about the situation. Nami's mouth went dry. Nami's fate now hung by a hair's breadth. Swallowing her fear, she moved forward to take the initiative, but for the first time in a long time, words failed her.

Morgan tight smile somehow turned into a smirk (again how he managed it with an iron jaw was anyone's guess) and he spoke first.

"So you're Ensign Monkey D. Luffy are you?"

Luffy, hands trembling, zeroed in on Morgan and closed the distance between them even further, "Yep. You surrendering or what?"

Captain Morgan's smirk turned into a sneer, "I think we need to discuss a few things."

Nami's mind rapidly processed the increasing likelihood of negative outcomes, so she again tried to speak. Unfortunately, she still couldn't formulate anything plausible in her mind. She reached out to the Ensign only for him to ignore her touch completely. He didn't even spare her a glance, and Nami believed the young Marine saw her not at all. All Luffy saw was Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan. Only Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan.

"Last chance to give up before I break you," Luffy spit out in a voice of pure fury.

Morgan then made his most fateful error. If Morgan was a smarter man, he would have given up, talked Luffy down, and then outed Nami. Morgan wasn't a smarter man. Morgan's sneer at Nami faded into a blank expression. Then he snarled at the much smaller officer. Morgan himself stepped forward to close the last bit of distance between him and the Ensign, thrusting a finger into Luffy's chest while doing so.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

Luffy's cocked a merciless half-smile. "Ensign Monkey D. Luffy." It was all the warning Morgan got as Luffy buried his fist halfway to the elbow into Captain Morgan's stomach. Morgan folded over the fist, but didn't collapse. Nami quickly realized that the large man's folding frame was mostly a maneuver to lessen the impact of the blow. Whatever Morgan was, Nami understood he still had a Marine's combat training. The Marine Captain obviously grasped the fact that Luffy was a dangerous individual. The blow definitely caused Morgan pain, you could see it in his eyes, but folding over the blow probably kept Luffy from shattering the larger man's ribcage. With a snarl, Morgan's huge left hand seized Luffy by the shoulder, and with a merciless snarl of triumph, Morgan raised his axe arm.

Nami felt a true moment of panic for someone other than herself. Luffy was obviously now anchored in place and had nowhere to go as the terrible blade descended. She shouted, maybe even screamed, but what words were uttered she could not say. Luffy looked at her with a carefree smile when she did. Nami thought it was going to be how this young man met his end, and it reminded her so much of her mother, tears formed in her eyes.

Nami closed her eyes.

There was a meaty smack.

Then there was laughter.

Not cruel. Not mocking. Just carefree honest laughter.

Nami looked.

She saw Luffy staring at her with a grin on his face.

"Don't worry. I got this guy."

It took a moment for Nami to nod. Because she was staring at where Luffy had stopped the terrible blade's descent. Right above his shoulder. At the absolute apex of Morgan's power and leverage. Nami already understood that Luffy must have eaten a devil fruit but it was no devil fruit power that stopped Morgan's blade. All Luffy used to stop Morgan blow was simple strength. Simple strength deployed with such casual ease it honestly made Nami shiver. Nami's eyes switched to Morgan's face, and how it had already morphed into a mask of absolute dread. Nami felt no sympathy, and in fact, Nami couldn't quite resist winking at him.

What happened next was completely one-sided. Nami had witnessed some lopsided fights in her life, after all pirates were never above picking on the weak, but Nami had never seen someone as hopelessly outclassed as Captain Morgan. At least not once Ensign Luffy decided to start pummeling the big man. She was absolutely sure the fight didn't last thirty seconds. It may not have even lasted twenty, but as quick as it was, the beat down was absolutely thorough. There was on final sickening crack followed by Morgan's last scream. Then there was just Morgan laying face down in the dirt, unconscious and broken.

Luffy stood over him, dusting off hands that weren't even dirty.

Everyone, including Nami, was gaping. One by one members of the 153rd rose out of the dust and stared at the young Ensign in awe. Not one Marine lifted their weapons for another rifle volley. Even if they wanted to, Nami knew they couldn't. The whole garrison was simply too thunderstruck.

With a smirk that hid her shock, Nami stepped forward. All eyes slowly shifted to her. All ears were open to what she had to say. When she started speaking she was pretty sure only the swordsman behind her knew she was spewing absolute bullshit.

* * *

\/

* * *

It was a beautiful bright and sunny day when Vice Admiral Garp sailed into the harbor of Shells Town. The only blight on the clear horizon was the solitary thundercloud looming directly above the Admiral himself. If one was prone to musings of fancy, they might think this one thundercloud somehow conjured solely by the intense willpower Garp poured into his frown. Not that they would have stuck around to find out. The man below that cloud looked like the sort to be avoided at all costs.

_Two weeks. Luffy has been a Marine for two damned weeks!_

Garp's schedule was full of hundreds of pressing duties scattered around dozens of more important ports. A month ago, before Luffy had even graduated, it was all the Vice Admiral could do to arrange a cursory inspection at the 153rd. Garp did this mostly so he could enjoy scaring the laxness out of his grandson. Now, because of that grandson, some sleepy little garrison at the tail end of the East Blue was the most important thing on the Vice Admiral's docket.

_How could one idiot cause an entire Marine garrison to go dark!_

The impact of Luffy's stupidity was currently more important than even Don Krieg's successful crossing of the Calm Belt. An improbable crossing admittedly, and undoubtedly a costly one, but one made possible thanks to that idiot Commodore Royale inexplicably dispersing his ships in every direction. Yet the return of the East Blue's greatest pirate threat took a backburner to Luffy somehow being stupidly stupider than even that.

_I am going to kill that boy!_

Of course on the grand scale of things in the world, Don Kreig was a joke who had obviously learned the hard way that the East Blue was NOT comparable to the Grand Line. Garp still planned on taking the fool down himself as soon as he was finally located, but that was solely so Vice Admiral Garp wouldn't have to waste resources defending the far end of nowhere. Because something that was surely not a joke were the rookies that blew through Loguetown recently. Captain Smoker was still completely up in arms about how undermanned he was and, Garp knew honestly, still is. Being fair to Smoker, the Captain had only one mere unit trying to stave off the most formidable rookie pirates in living memory. This Law character in particular had some kind of laugh at Smoker's expense when he blew through Loguetown. A laugh that had the Marine Captain so furious it was all Vice Admiral Garp could do to keep Smoker from abandoning his post and storming after the young pirate captain himself.

The dark thundercloud over Garp's head started throwing off rather impressive sparks. Luffy was needed here to get rid of Alvida and Buggy since Captain Morgan had yet to lock down either threat over the past year. Hopefully, once Luffy was seasoned a bit, he could then join Smoker. Whatever you want to say about that boy, if Smoker had someone like Luffy helping him, well that would definitely ebb the flow of pirates entering the Grand Line.

Then Garp could turn his own attentions to more important matters.

Garp glowered. The Vice Admiral had not been happy to learn that a certain snake named Crocodile had decided to set up shop in Alabasta. Granted, Crocodile was evidently on his best behavior. That serpent was even acting like the living proof that maybe the Warlord system wasn't the stupidest idea ever handed down from high command. Of course Garp didn't buy it. Crocodile hadn't been there a year yet, and already a massive drought and civil unrest were plaguing one of the greatest kingdoms on the Grand Line. Garp smelled a rat, or a snake, or a crocodile, or a whatever, and was fully planning on exterminating it the moment the East Blue was secured.

Garp massaged his temples. Unfortunately, a sudden influx of rookie pirate captains and a Pirate Warlord playing saint weren't the only worrying things on his docket. Some upstart named Blackbeard recently took over Drum Kingdom, ousted its government, only to seemingly grow bored and abruptly disappear. Which meant a formidable pirate, no one has ever heard of before, had the means and power to rove around the Grand Line and do whatever he wanted for whatever reason he wanted to do it. Then there was this Baroque Works assassination nonsense that kept cropping up over and over again. Whoever or whatever Baroque was, the organization now fielded the second most powerful Navy outside the New World. This was not something the Marines could let stand!

And of course, there was also the personal matter…

Ace was no longer in the New World. Too many sightings were now confirmed for it to be otherwise. Garp swallowed. He loved that boy, he honestly did. He also honestly respected a man's right to live as best that man saw fit. A man has the right make his own decisions, so long as he has the courage to face the consequences. But that did not mean Garp looked forward to the moment when he became Ace's consequences. The moment when Garp would face the prospect of sending his own adopted grandson to Impel Down.

Garp shook his head vigorously. Garp was sure punishing Luffy for his idiocy would make him feel significantly better. Well… Garp was almost sure of it, plus there was only one way to be sure.

When the ship finally pulled into port, Garp quickly spied a small squad of Marines lined up near the dock. The Vice Admiral was a bit surprised. Granted his ship flew his flag; proclaiming it the flagship of the overall commander of the East Blue. Still, Garp half-expected panting Marines running at full speed from the garrison to show up just as the warship moored itself. Certainly not a unit already on hand to greet them. Vice Admiral Garp mentally shrugged, chalking it up as a small isle of competence in a sea of stupidity.

As his flagship slowly maneuvered to the only dock that could accommodate it, Garp noticed something else. He had been too distracted by his literal mountains of other problems to recognize it before, but the _Miss Love Duck_ was moored at a dock with its colors stricken.

That was something. Maybe Morgan was less idiotic than Garp had come to believe. Alvida wasn't really a big threat, but through the grace of being a bit lucky and there being more pressing matters for Marines to attend to, she'd remained a notable nuisance for years. It would be Garp's great pleasure to have the Hag of the East Blue sent to Impel Down where she belongs. The ending of Alvida's career wasn't the "most important thing ever" by any stretch of the imagination, but it was good news nonetheless. Maybe someone here actually deserved a little credit. If Luffy had a hand in accomplishing this, Garp might even pull his punches a little.

Not wanting to waste time, not when his knuckles could be used on his chowder head of a grandson, Garp leapt the fifty or so yards between his ship and the dock. When he landed, he was in for something of a shock. The Vice Admiral eyeballed the motley assembly of Marine Privates that surrounded him with a rather critical eye. "Who's in charge here?"

A slightly older Private, who had a brevet bar of all things under his lone chevron, stepped forward and saluted smartly, "Private First Class Koinobori! Sir! This is my unit! Sir!"

It took Garp all his considerable will power to not imitate his grandson and blink stupidly at the Marine in front of him. "They sent a Private First Class… no a temporary Private First Class… to greet the overall Commander of the East Blue?"

To the Private's credit he did not quail or quiver. He stood proud and tall while politely informing the Vice Admiral of the current situation. "Our apologies sir. The vast majority of the 153rd's officer core is being held in detention pending your final review of the formal charges leveled at them by Lieutenant Commander Nami and Ensign Luffy."

Garp felt his patience slip a notch but didn't take it out on the Private. A Private who could look him in the eye was a rare thing these days. Also this Marine was only fulfilling his grandson's idiotic orders as best he could. That Luffy was issuing orders instead of relaying them was a problem Garp could address in due time. Thus Garp let it go for now and started marching towards the base where he could calmly and peacefully strangle Luffy right in front of the entire garrison. Garp did notice, to the credit of the young Marines behind them, how the escort platoon promptly fell into crisp order behind him. The Vice Admiral motioned for the _almost_ Private First Class to come up alongside him. "Do you know why this Lieutenant Commander ordered a communication's blackout, Private?"

The Private nodded, "Given Morgan's numerous and suspected contacts among the local pirates, Lieutenant Commander Nami deemed it prudent to block all communications until your personal arrival."

Garp raised his eyebrows at the Private, "Including to and from my own ship?"

The Private nodded, "Yes sir. The Lieutenant Commander assured the later wouldn't have been necessary, if she could have stayed and awaited your arrival. She seemed excited when she was informed you were confirmed to be on your way," The Private winced slightly, "Unfortunately, once it was discovered that Morgan's Marine Atlas had been stolen by Buggy the Clown, well the compromise to fleet security was so great she immediately ordered a choice team to go and retake those documents to hopefully mitigate the damage."

Vice Admiral Garp felt his eye twitch and stopped moving. "The Marine Atlas was stolen?"

The Marine was grim as he nodded. "Yes sir. After Morgan's arrest, Lieutenant Commander Nami opened his safe. She was searching for more evidence to present to you against him. She found several incriminating documents with local pirates and smugglers, but that was minor compared to the missing Atlas. All that was contained in the intelligence folder was simple piece of paper with Buggy the Clown's pirate mark."

Garp clenched and unclenched his jaw a few times. Finally he managed to growl out, "Where is Captain Morgan?"

"Morgan," the Private spat out the word, "is not a Captain any longer. Sir, he murdered a Marine. Your grandson was so furious when he found out it was all Lt. Commander Nami and Pirate Hunter Zoro could do to keep Luffy calm. Ensign Luffy literally pulled out the Marine Code of Conduct and wanted Morgan summarily shot. He even argued with the Lt. Commander over the matter, but she insisted a full inquiry was necessary before proceeding." Garp did note the Private's tone made it quite obvious the Marine supported Garp's grandson's opinion over this Lieutenant Commander Nami's.

Vice Admiral Garp took a moment to process, then began walking forward again, although at admittedly a slower pace. "I see." Garp really didn't like the pictures that were forming in his mind. Luffy needed to answer several questions. "What about the other officers of the garrison? Why didn't they voice any opinions?"

"Commander Ripper, and indeed all officers other than Junior Lieutenant Rokkaku, are currently incarcerated in the brig. Lieutenant Commander Nami insisted they were all at least partially complicit in Morgan's illegal commands. More so than the enlisted men anyways." The Private had a neutral look cross his face as he searched him memory to come up with all the correct names. "Along with the vast majority of the officers, we are currently incarcerating Sergeant Major Bichi, Morgan's son Helmeppo, three of the 153rd's former jailors, and a few others here and there that tried to spin a story protecting the officer's core. Frankly the story they spouted was absurdly obvious, Lieutenant Commander Nami even laughed out loud at the allegations they tried to lay at her feet. Pathetic really given she had your own personal sealed orders with her. Anyways, all of those men are currently isolated to keep them from unifying their story and waiting your personal review over their responsibilities for various criminal infractions and violations of the Marine Code of Conduct." For the first time the "Brevet" Private First Class looked nervous. "To be honest, sir, while we're greatly relieved you are here since we've been operating with barely a skeletal capacity for weeks, the men are nervous as well. All of us failed the Marines in some way or another. Not a man behind you isn't facing some charge for the violations of their oaths. While none of them are spinning desperate stories like those in the brig, many of them expect to be summarily court martialed and removed from the Marines altogether." There was a pause, "Including myself."

The Vice Admiral felt something distinct form in his heart. Whatever was going on was looking more and more like something not of Luffy's making. There was a sigh, but the Great Hero of the Marines finally asked the question this young Marine wanted him to ask. "And what crimes do you assume I will kick you out of the Marines for, Private?

There was no hesitation, proving again that the young Marine was anticipating the question. Still the words were spoken with reluctance. "Sir, I knew early on that Morgan was a monster, and fighting monsters is what I signed up to do. Yet in the end, I not only failed to protect this village, but I grew cowardly enough to throw even the children of this town between myself and that monster." There was a small pause, not for effect but of honest deep regret, "In the end all I can do is face the consequences of my inadequacies like a Marine. It is a conclusion every man and woman serving behind you has come to as well."

The thunderclouds over Garp's head went pitch. So the entirety of a Marine garrison was compromised, a Marine Atlas was stolen, and a mysterious Lieutenant Commander was swinging well above her rank even under such extraordinary circumstances. Garp instantly understood just how bad things had to be if a damned Private First Class, a damned _brevet_ Private First Class, had been regulated to explaining the situation to the Overall Commander of the East Blue! But anger gave way to one important moment of clarity. The Private First Class mentioned something about this Nami having his sealed orders? It was an obvious loose thread!.

"Private First Class Koinobori. What removes this Lieutenant Commander Nami from suspicion concerning the rest of the officer's core?"

"Sir? It's because Lieutenant Commander Nami isn't attached to the 153rd sir. She's… she's serves on your staff…. Doesn't she?"

Garp frowned harder, suspicions confirmed as he tugged on this one dangling thread. Garp decided to ask. "How would you know that? Since you silenced your transponder snails. The only message I got through was informing the base I was on my way and that Luffy had better be ready for me when I arrived."

Garp was somewhat surprised when the Private relaxed. "Sorry sir, I thought I made it clear. She had an order with your seal on them. Even though it was a break in protocol, she unsealed them before you arrived as an emergency measure as well as to clear herself of suspicions. While the orders were strictly about her surprise inspection of the garrison, she argued the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Morgan's conduct warranted her taking temporary control of the base. Of course there was one amusing mistake in the wording of your orders, stating Lieutenant Commander Luffy was in charge of the investigation. Not the first clerical error issued in official orders and Ensign Luffy himself had looked rather bemused by his sudden promotion."

Garp frowned harder. A forger then. A good forger. Someone who had spent a good deal of time and care to implement a well thought out plan. Obviously she tried to sneak in using Luffy's orders as cover, but somehow things went sideways on her. Still she kept her wits and somehow kept some kind of plausible story going. She must be targeting the Marine Atlas, why else specifically look for it? Did she already have it? No, that was likely what caused the whole plan to fall apart. Buggy must have managed to steal it first. Garp somehow frowned harder. Who did this 'Nami' work for? This mysterious Baroque works perhaps?

Garp asked, "Who did this supposed Marine Officer take with her to recover the Atlas?"

Now the Private wavered. Truly wavered. Slowly realization dawned in the man's face. Almost desperately, the man asked a question he must already know the answer to.

"Sir? Are you saying she doesn't work for you?"

Garp hardened his gaze on the Marine, utilizing a true manifestation of his will. "That wasn't an answer to my question, Private."

Again the Marine surprised him. He looked Vice Admiral Garp in the eye. No desperation showed in his face, just complete acceptance. Calmly, brevet Private First Class Koinobori saluted. No stuttering, no back pedaling. He saluted and faced his failure as a Marine should. "Apologies sir. She only took two people. One was your grandson, the other was the Pirate Hunter Zoro who accompanied her at his own assistance for unknown reasons."

Garp was subtly and suitably impressed by this Marine. Granted he wanted to strangle him and everyone else at this garrison for their incompetence, but then he'd need to fill the entirety of the 153rd's ranks from some place else that needed seasoned Marines more. Garp did mentally note to get this Marine at least made into a full Private First Class. Complete honesty in the face of failure showed two important things many Marines these days lacked. Duty and integrity. The Vice Admiral again began walking forward, motioning once more for the Private to keep pace.

After a few minutes The Vice Admiral decided to let the hanging question drop. "There is no one named Nami that serves on my ship much less my staff. Certainly not an actual Lieutenant Commander, and definitely not someone I personally ordered here for any reason."

Garp detected only the slightest of missteps of the young Marine walking beside him. The Private again asked an absurdly obvious question, one Garp forgave him for. After all, not asking questions had gotten this garrison into the state it now existed in. "Sir, am I to understand that you ordered no covert inspection of this garrison?"

"No, I did not."

"An imposter." Garp side-eyed the Private who also turned black with rage. Garp could sympathize. "Vice Admiral. May I have a brief moment to address my men?"

The Vice Admiral nodded, and the Private immediately about-faced to look at his undermanned but still orderly platoon. A platoon who obviously heard every word of the proceeding conversation. Every Marine in the line was as furious as the Private who addressed them. "Men secure provisions for the Admiral's ship on the double. Also, prepare our own War Sloop for departure. Pending Vice Admiral's approval, I intend for the 153rd to mount a rescue operation. Ensign Luffy is facing a credible pirate threat with an imposter of unknown motivations and a mercenary of unknown loyalty at his back!" The Private paused briefly, "Will the 153rd let that stand?!"

The men surrounding Vice Admiral Garp stood at one hundred percent attention and in unison barked out, "NO!"

The Private smiled, then turned to Garp, "With your permission Vice Admiral?" A reasonably impressed Garp nodded, and the Private smiled a hard smile. "You have your orders, Marines! Now perform your duty!"

The men saluted with parade precision, then dispersed immediately. The Marine Private then addressed the Vice Admiral directly, "Sir, I will need to introduce you to our new recruit Koby. I was going to serve as your aide during your inspection, but I now should oversee these preparations personally. Also despite being just a recruit, Koby is eager and capable. More importantly, he and Luffy are the only Marines stationed here not facing a court martial."

Garp looked at the young Marine facing him. A Marine who was obviously filled with rage and shame. A Marine who had failed utterly in his duty not once, but at least twice. But Garp knew in his heart he was facing a proper Marine all the same. Garp nodded. Maybe this Marine needed to be bumped up above Private First Class, after all the officer's core here was obviously in shambles.

It was a humorous thought that a Marine had impressed him so much solely by how well he dealt with failure. More so than many other Marines in recent days. Garp sighed as he thought of how many self-important peacocks he dealt with. All of them endlessly impressed with their own petty triumphs and looking oh so hard to blame anyone else for their shortsighted failures. The thoughts were enough to force an old Marine who still believed in his oaths to either break down in laughter or tears.

So Garp laughed.

Private Koinoburi smiled, and Garp slapped him lightly on the shoulder, nearly knocking the young man to the floor. The Private's smile didn't waver. Garp winked. Garp knew he was blessed with a really good laugh. A laugh that looked inwards and encouraged others to do so as well.

The Private's smile didn't waver, but Garp could see a bit of hardness in the young Private's eyes. Garp understood and it confirmed the Vice Admiral's opinion on the mater. Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, Marine Hero, decided then and there that this disgraced Marine was going to be joining the junior officer's core. But that was an order to be issued later. Something the Private seemed to agree with since he indicated the road towards the base. "When you're ready, Sir."

Garp, still chuckling, allowed this Private to lead on to whoever this Recruit Koby was.

* * *

Commander Ripper was confined to a cell in the lowest levels of the Marine Stockade. Jailed on the authority of Marine officer that was obviously an imposter. It was absolutely humiliating knowing the Marines under his command held such little faith in him that hey eagerly ignored every argument he gave concerning this Nami's orders. Though still not as as humiliating as simply knowing he couldn't really blame them.

Someone Ripper thought he could blame his misfortunes on sat in the cell across from him. Commander Ripper tried to stare through the broken hulk that was Captain Morgan. To force the full will of his malice on the vile man that led to Ripper to his disgrace. With glee, Commander Ripper again took in the details of Morgan's broken form. The Garrison's surgeon said one of his eye sockets was shattered, this caused the whole right side of Morgan's face to be one black swollen bruise. He now had several missing teeth and two large dents in his metal jaw. Still Morgan's shattered face wasn't where Ripper's eyes lingered. Commander Ripper couldn't help it, his eyes kept tracking back to the shattered stump of Morgan's right arm. Captain Morgan so large, so imposing, so honestly impressive, well he looked like nothing as he cradled that sump of an arm.

Having the bane of Ripper's existence reduced to nothing, well it was the most comforting sight in these dour gray walls.

Morgan shifted and looked Commander Ripper in the eye. With force of will, Commander Ripper held the other's gaze, though it was still a struggle. It was the first time since he had met Morgan that Ripper was able to do so. Then something strange happened, evaporating Ripper's minor triumph. For the first time since he had been dragged unconscious into the cell, the huge man spoke to the Commander. Ripper almost jumped when the first rusty syllables reached his ears.

"Did I ever tell you about my fight with Captain Kuro?" Morgan's voice was slow, he was obviously speaking with difficulty, but still the words were clear.

Ripper blinked and frowned. Maybe it was the lingering fear Commander Ripper still felt from the man, but Ripper couldn't resist the urge to answer the question. "You told me how you were the man who brought him down. That you marched him to the gallows yourself. The very noose that ended his life hangs in your office."

Morgan chuckled, but for the first time ever in Morgan's laughter, there was no hint of malevolence in it. If anything, it sounded sad. "I didn't think so." The tone caused Ripper to blink so hard it almost felt like a willful act. After a moment Morgan continued. "Kuro killed everyone on my ship. By himself, without any aid, he killed everyone I was serving with. And I mean literally everyone. He even killed the cabin boy." Morgan closed his eyes and honestly shuddered. "The boy Kuro killed was a good lad named Nikkō. Liked to carve every bit of wood he could get his hands on into figurines. One of those figurines still sits in my desk. I could never bear to throw it away because it was the last thing that boy finished carving. I also can't bear to look at at it because, when I do, all I see is Kuro slicing Nikkō's throat. Kuro smirked at me when he did it. I was conscious, Kuro knew it and wanted an audience, but conscious didn't mean I could stop him. I couldn't even stand."

Morgan was then silent. Silent for long enough that Ripper was convinced he was done talking, but then, after nearly a full minute of absolute silence, Morgan continued. "I know you think you hate me. You believe it down to the very marrow of your bones. I made you feel powerless, and I will admit to you here and now that I truly enjoyed making you feel powerless. Still, however you may feel about me, believe me when I say you don't know hate. Not the type of hate that I've felt for the last seven years."

"Daddy…?"

Ripper's eyes transferred to Helmeppo. From Helmeppo's reaction, Ripper could tell Morgan's had not. Morgan watched Helmeppo's world die as Morgan kept speaking. "How pathetic that hate is. How impotent it is. As I was impotent when Kuro killed a fourteen year old boy just because he could. After Kuro was brought down, the Marines lauded me as a hero. Somehow, I was suddenly the unlikely avenger of sixty dead Marines. Marines whose guts I got to see splattered across the deck as a mocking monster tore through them. After Kuro was dead, all that was left was for me to turn that pathetically empty hate on the last person truly worthy of it." There was a brief pause, then Morgan asked the rhetorical question he had obviously been building to. "Do you have any guess as to why I truly hate myself Commander?"

Ripper swallowed, "No."

Morgan laughed. This laugh was somehow beyond sadness. Beyond bitterness. The laughter was hollow. Empty. Like there was somehow nothing left of Captain Morgan. that there hadn't been anything for a good long while.

"I hate myself because, try as I might, I don't know how I defeated Kuro. Oh I've thought about it, hell it's what I spent most of my life doing since the hangman removed that bastard from the world. Still, no matter how I try, I can only remember two moments with any clarity. Me cradling the stump of my right arm," Captain Morgan held up his shattered arm to emphasize his point, "Then me somehow holding down a beaten and unconscious Kuro. My actual victory, the moment I've pounded my chest about ever since it happened in some vain attempt to convince myself it actually happened… that moment… Ripper I remember it not at all."

Helmeppo again tried to speak, "Maybe… it was the trauma. People black out all the time in the heat of the moment? Of battle?" Helmeppo looked desperately at Ripper, "Don't they?"

Morgan's hollow laugh again sounded. "You sound like me."

Helmeppo looked back to his father, "Daddy?"

For the first time since Ripper had known the man, Captain Morgan turned and fully addressed his son. "You sound like me. So desperate to convince yourself of a fact, but completely unable to do so. And boy, you have never sounded less like a man in your entire life."

Ripper swallowed. A rusty hinge sounded. It came as a relief. Reflexively, Commander Ripper's eyes moved towards the source of the sound. Ripper felt his mouth turn to cotton. A small young man, the pudgy new recruit with purple hair, walked in. Unfortunately behind him came no less than Vice Admiral Garp himself.

Commander Ripper stood immediately and moved to the bars to address the Vice Admiral directly, only for the words to die in his mouth unsaid. The Vice Admiral didn't look at any single Marine in any single cell he passed until he stood directly before the dank metal bars of Captain Morgan's confinement.

After a moment, the Vice Admiral spoke. His voice was hard. It was flat. It was cold. Garp's voice was the impassionate voice of justice itself. "Morgan. I have a list of charges directed at you. These include consorting with pirates, bribery, extortion, and the unlawful death of a Marine."

Captain Morgan finally decided to stand. He looked Garp in the eye. "I understand."

"Do you want to offer a defense?"

Morgan, "No."

Vice Admiral Garp nodded once. "Tomorrow at dawn then. I'll make sure your last meal is soft enough for you to swallow."

With that Captain Morgan sat down. No one ever heard him speak again. At least until Garp gave him one final courtesy and allowed Captain Morgan to issue his last order. An order given to a carefully selected squad of his Marines. Marines who had been gathered before their condemned Captain because they had been unfortunate when their turn came to drawing lots.

Morgan faced these unlucky Marines and calmly gave them that simple direct order to, 'Fire.'

Commander Ripper could hear it from his cell.

It was the kind of order that makes you reflect on the path your life has taken.

* * *

/\

* * *

Nami stood at the helm of the catboat she had secured from the naval yard. Catboats were perhaps the most common ship in the area. Almost all fisherman, and many small time cargo haulers, owned and operated these ships in and around the Yotsuba Archipelago. Nami had a great fondness for these little ships. They were rather fast for their size especially when one considered the limiting factor of these ships having but a single mast. An added bonus was the cargo hold was actually surprisingly large for such a small vessel, which made catboats excellent for smuggling. Most importantly for Nami though was that the only mainsail was linked with a gaff-styled rigging system that made operating both it and the till-styled rudder something one person could do with ease.

The catboat's one major drawback was the very shallow draft. This made them wildly unstable in harsher weather. This was somewhat offset by dagger boards that could be lowered to serve as a make shift keel, but this measure was far from foolproof.

Still, this was the East Blue. Storms of note were rare in these waters, and Nami had something of a knack for avoiding the worst of them. Also, a shallow draft could be something of a blessing too, letting a boat bypass many underwater obstacles or even pull in to shore without the need of a dock. Another reason Nami had selected it. Hopefully these abilities would help her sneak into Orangetown right under Captain Buggy's nose. Then she could then unleash her surprise and escape before anyone was the wiser... And boy was Buggy in for one hell of a surprise.

Absently she stared at Ensign Luffy who snored loudly and unconcerned in the late afternoon sun. Nami was still somewhat in awe of just how easily and thoroughly Luffy had pummeled Morgan. Buggy might be a tough, and his vicious temper was almost legendary in the East Blue, but Luffy… Luffy was something else.

_You mean a real Marine, like Belle-mere. A real Marine you completely intend on abandoning._

Nami sucked on her bottom lip. Doubts hung about her. She wasn't used to feeling doubts. Even as a child, when she made her bargain with the devil, Nami intimately understood the concept of "stakes." Choices were always easier that way. You weighed odds against potential cost versus possible rewards. If the numbers worked into your favor, the choice was obvious. If not, the choice was equally obvious.

Numbers made Nami's choices simple, and in this case, the numbers were very clear.

If someone dropped Ensign Luffy on a pirate crew, that someone was going to have some very distracted pirates. Very distracted pirates aren't going to be guarding their treasure or their stolen Marine Atlas very well. Between what the Buggy Pirates likely had and what Nami had already stolen from Alvida once she circled back, there was an excellent chance Nami would finally have enough money to pay off Arlong. The town, including Nami's sister, would then forever be safe.

Everything she had been working to do… every line she crossed… It would finally be over. Nami's life would be her own. Nami's home would be free. All she needed to do was betray one lousy Marine Ensign for it to be so. A Marine Ensign that was borderline indestructible anyways. Nami deliberately remembered that first ill-fated volley the Marines had fired at Luffy. Bullets went everywhere but Nami knew Luffy hadn't even felt enough pain to wince.

He'd be alright. Nami was sure of it.

Right?

What were her alternatives anyways? Admit she impersonated a Marine Officer? Luffy would jail her for sure. And once he did? Nami knew exactly what would happen if she failed to come back. Arlong was always good to his word. Nami also knew who he would target first.

What was the welfare of one Marine against that?

Nami brushed a tear away with her thumb and kept her eyes locked on the horizon. That was the way forward. The only way forward.

Right?

An unwelcome voice spoke from the catboat's bow. "I see you finally made up your mind."

Nami glared at the green-haired swordsman. "I don't know what you mean."

Zoro yawned and looked at her lazily. "I'm sure." Still even though Zoro was affecting nonchalance, Nami noticed something gleam in the swordsman's eyes. Like a hint of gold encased in ice. Then he looked away and made his offer simply. "In case it matters to you, I owe the Ensign my life. I would have died like a dog chained to that post if he hadn't showed up." Zoro side-eyed her and smirked. "Granted a dog granted a final meal, but I still would have been completely helpless when Morgan went back on his word." Zoro yawned again, like death was only of minor consequence. "So, I owe him. I also haven't exactly been able to pay him back yet. So I'll make sure Luffy gets back to his command safe. I owe you thanks as well. Which is why I am telling you this. I promise nothing more, and I promise you nothing less."

Nami nodded in understanding and acceptance. "I appreciate that." A pause, "I honestly do." Zoro insisting he come along now made more sense to Nami. The numbers, odds, and payoffs shifted into even more favorable patterns. It should have made the obvious choice even more obvious.

Right?

Then why did her doubts only growing louder?

* * *

Luffy cracked open one eye and watched 'Lieutenant Commander Nami' steer the boat as she spoke with the Zoro guy. The wind was such he couldn't tell what they were talking about, not even on such a small craft. Luffy could only tell that they were talking, not what words were actually being spoken. It seemed he chose a bad spot to eavesdrop from and moving now would give the game away that he was awake and on guard.

Oh well.

Not that he really expected either of them to try and hurt him. Zoro probably hadn't even realized Nami was a fake yet. How could he? It had taken Luffy almost two entire days to figure it out himself, and he was a Marine! So Zoro was probably innocent in all this.

Luffy wondered who she was. At the beginning she had fooled him because, well Luffy preferred action to thinking. Kicking Morgan's ass was where his mind was focused and Luffy wanted it to remain. Still once Morgan had been knocked around, ass kicked up and down, Luffy had started to realize a few things about Nami.

The first thing was, Lieutenant Commander Nami's uniform was odd. The cuffs on her legs were too long. She had subtly pinned them, not hemmed, but pinned. That wasn't a small thing. Officers of command rank all wore uniforms that were tailor made. Even if the officer was a literal giant, their uniforms fit perfectly.

Next, were the two times she had been forced into a situation where saluting was necessary. The first time was when Lieutenant Rokkaku reported back from the docks only to find out he was the only garrison officer not currently incarcerated. His vow to serve the people better was honest. His promise to face the consequences once Vice Admiral Garp arrived had been heartfelt. Luffy had snapped to attention the moment Lieutenant Rokkaku had finished speaking. This 'Lieutenant Commander Nami' though had been much more deliberate. Not solemn… deliberate. Like she had to think about how to salute, like somehow saluting wasn't an automatic gesture. Her second salute, when she addressed the remaining garrison and explained their orders while she recovered the, Atlas was just wrong. The fact she did it crisply gave it away even more clearly, because her hand ended up below the brow… which was ten demerits back at Luffy's academy.

No one serving on Gramp's staff would ever offer such a salute. Then there was the stories some of the people were telling him about her. That was why Luffy looked closely at the writing when she displayed her orders. It wasn't even close to Gramp's handwriting, and sealed orders were not something someone dictated. Luffy would have apprehended Nami right there accept for a couple of things could not be ignored.

One was the Marine Atlas really did seem to be missing and Nami seemed to know exactly who this Buggy guy was and where he was located. Two was Gramps really did seem to be on his way, which meant someone was coming who could literally fix the garrison way better than Luffy could. It wasn't like Luffy was afraid of what might happen to him once Gramps arrived. If successfully getting the Atlas back might make Gramps forget Luffy had kind of messed up his very first orders as a Marine, well that was just a coincidence!

So Luffy made a decision. Gramps was going to kill him if this decision didn't work out, but since Luffy already knew Gramps was on his way and would probably kill him when the whole story came out, what did Luffy really have to lose? So Luffy chose to gamble a bit. Gamble on this Nami pointing him at whoever Buggy was so Luffy could get the Atlas back!

Also if Luffy actually caught this pirate captain, then that would make up for the fat lady getting away. Right?

Luffy mentally sighed though, because one thing became more and more apparent to the Ensign. Luffy rather liked this 'Nami.' She really had helped get the 153rd shaped up in no time flat.

Arresting her was going to sincerely suck.

* * *

**So Morgan versus Luffy would always be an absurdly one-sided fight. I figured leaving a bunch of star struck Marines rededicating themselves to an ideal they had abandoned would have more impact than a drawn out fight. I know I've started tweaking Luffy in small ways because he's a Marine, but I hope to all of you he remains Luffy in spirit.**

**Again spoilers on my impressions on specific One Piece episodes I assume most people watched several years ago.**

**I haven't made a lot of progress on One Piece this year. Mostly due to the travel, work, and then the pandemic throwing wrenches into my life. On the flip side, I have enjoyed a lot of quality time with friends and family I don't get to see very often and turned social distancing into something of an extended vacation. Still, savings were getting low, and it was then time to do what I could to make ends meet.**

**So I am only now at the point where Robin escaped. Zoro is now fighting something on spooky island, I think Sanji went native, and Usopp got fat. Oh, and Nami found out her mode of transport is pretty slow. At least Brooks is seeing lots of underwear. That's something… right? I am also aware of, mostly through osmosis, there is a big time skip coming so I think Oda is setting up specific plot arcs for that.**

**I do have a question though. Does Robin kill people with **_**clutch**_**? It's hard to tell. It really looked like she killed that entire prison garrison. I was kind of bummed a bit in how her situation ended. Her place of arrival had a really cool setting. I would have liked a lot more story there, but it looks like Oda wants to explain the Revolutionary Army more. Oh well, who am I to complain? Oda is the master of the most successful Manga in the history of ever. What the hell do I know?**

**I do hope we get more back and forth between Perona and Zoro. Incidentally, I have a Zoro theory! I doubt it's original, but I like it so I am going to mention it. What if Zoro has the**_** perfect**_** sense of direction? One that always allows him to show up at the most opportune time in the most opportune place? Hell he followed clouds and that moronic bit of navigation helped Nami get to the one doctor on the Grand Line that could save her life! Need I mention the finale in Alabasta?!**

**If it wasn't already canon that Zoro could swim, I could almost see him accidentally eating the Oblivious-Oblivious Fruit as a child. Granted the power to be where needed, when needed… at the cost of somehow getting lost in a closet that has only one door.**

**Food for thought!**

**Thank you for reading as always.**


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